Cageside Catch-up: Woodley details hand injury

Welcome to "Cageside Catch-up" at theScoreMMA, our roundup of the latest MMA news and announcements.

Woodley explains UFC Minneapolis removal

Tyron Woodley revealed the details of the hand injury that forced him out of UFC Minneapolis in an Instagram live video on Friday. "The Chosen One" was scheduled to headline the card against Robbie Lawler in a rematch.

"A lot of questions about my hand and me not fighting June 29," Woodley said, via MMAFighting's Jose Youngs. “I don't know if they're going to reschedule me and Robbie for a different date or if they’re going to actually get him a new opponent. But, I got to make sure I protect my hand. That's where I make the money with. I have to be confident in throwing my moneymaker, my right hand. I toughed it through the last fight, guys, a lot of f---ing tape, a lot of avoidance. This time around I've got to be honest with myself.

"The gripping, the grabbing, the posting, the pushing off, the strength, the snapping - all of the above was a little bit more difficult. I’m going to make sure I put myself in a position to be successful. At the end of the day, I got to get that belt back. I’ve got to put myself in the best position."

Woodley (19-4-1) surrendered his welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, losing by unanimous decision. The 37-year-old previously knocked out Lawler (28-13, 1 NC) at UFC 201 in July 2016.

Welterweights Darren Till, Elizeu Zaleski, and Santiago Ponzinibbio have offered to step up and replace Woodley.

Lee issues statement following UFC Rochester loss

After Lee's second straight loss, it's unclear if the 26-year-old will stay in the welterweight division or drop back down to lightweight.

Report: Emmett and Bektic to clash at UFC Sacramento

Josh Emmett and Mirsad Bektic have verbally agreed to a featherweight matchup at UFC Sacramento, according to FloCombat's Nolan King.

Emmett (14-2) will enter this bout coming off a highlight-reel victory over Michael Johnson at UFC Philadelphia. The Team Alpha Male product has won three of his last four fights.

Bektic (13-1) heads into this contest off back-to-back wins that came over Godofredo Pepey and Ricardo Lamas. The 28-year-old hasn't competed since June 2018, fighting just three times since 2017.

Bektic, who's ranked ninth, will have revenge on his mind after losing to Emmett's teammate Darren Elkins at UFC 209.

When it rains, it pours

In the same report, King mentions welterweight Ricky Rainey has been released from the UFC.

Rainey (13-5) went winless in the Octagon, dropping consecutive fights to Muslim Salikhov and Tim Means. The 35-year-old has fought some tough competition in his career, including Dhiego Lima, Michael "Venom" Page, and Chidi Njokuani.

Prior to signing with the UFC, Rainey went 5-2 under the Bellator MMA banner from 2014 to 2017.

KSW 49 results: UFC veteran Askam takes home gold

Welterweight champion Roberto Soldic and UFC veteran Scott Askham both put forward impressive outings at KSW 49.

Sodic, the 24-year-old headliner, knocked out Krystian Kaszubowski in the first round to keep his 170-pound title.

In the co-feature, Askham landed a flying-knee knockout on Michał Materla to capture the vacant middleweight title.

Full results

• Roberto Soldic def. Krystian Kaszubowski via KO (punch) at 1:25 of Round 1
• Scott Askham def. Michal Materla via KO (knee) at 1:23 of Round 3
• Damian Grabowski def. Karol Bedorf via TKO (strikes) at 3:56 of Round 2
• Norman Parke def. Artur Sowinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Erko Jun def. Akop Szostak via TKO (strikes) at 4:24 of Round 1
• Martin Zawada def. Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
• Antun Racic def. Paweł Politylo via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
• Luis Henrique def. Michal Andryszak via submission (technical) at 4:52 of Round 1
• Leszek Krakowski def. Michael Dubois via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)