Injured Chris Weidman to miss UFC 181; new main is Hendricks-Lawler

Middleweight champion Chris Weidman suffered a broken hand in training, causing his Ultimate Fighting Championship title defense against veteran Vitor Belfort on Dec. 6 to be rescheduled.

The Dec. 6 main event will now be welterweight champion Johny Hendricks’ title defense against Robbie Lawler, a rematch of the March bout in which Hendricks claimed the belt in Dallas by decision.

UFC 181 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas will be co-headlined by the lightweight title defense by champion Anthony Pettis versus Gilbert Melendez, a Santa Ana product.

A new date for Weidman (12-0) will be announced at a later date, a UFC spokesman reported.

Weidman, who has twice successfully defended the belt he won from Anderson Silva, required an injury layoff from December to July after hurting his knee in training earlier this year. He defeated Lyoto Machida on July 5.