Report: Rothwell out of UFC 203 with knee injury

A knee injury will force Ben Rothwell out of his UFC 203 bout opposite former champion Fabricio Werdum, according to Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie citing multiple sources.

The promotion will seek a new opponent to face Werdum on the Sept. 10 card that takes place at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Rothwell-Werdum bout was billed as the co-main event on the official poster.

A representative for Rothwell suggested the fighter could have a torn meniscus or an ACL injury.

Both top-10 heavyweights were looking to bounce back from recent losses that interrupted wildly successful runs in the division. Rothwell dropped a five-round decision to Junior dos Santos in April, an outcome that snapped a four-fight winning streak.

Werdum was last seen on the receiving end of a first-round knockout courtesy of Stipe Miocic, that cost the Brazilian his UFC heavyweight title. It was Werdum's first loss in seven bouts since rejoining the promotion in February 2012.