Thiago Alves has been pulled from his fight against Jon Fitch at this weekend's UFC 111 due to a CAT scan that revealed issues that could not be resolved in time for him to receive medical clearance for licensing.
Alves' removal from the card was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by the UFC, and sources close to the fighter on Thursday. The report first surfaced on TMZ.com.
According to sources speaking to MMAWeekly.com, Alves had a pre-fight CAT scan that revealed a potentially dangerous issue with the fighter's brain, and while doctors were reviewing the issue, he could not be cleared in time to fight at UFC 111.
Alves had already made the trip to New Jersey for the fight, but will now seek out a specialist to try and see if the issue can be resolved. Sources have indicated there is a possibility the UFC may move the fight to the Charlotte, N.C., card coming up on March 31, but at this time it's only speculation until Alves can be cleared medically.
Alves and Fitch were set to rematch from a fight the pair had in 2006 with Fitch coming out on top by TKO. The fighters are currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the world by MMAWeekly.com, behind only UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
A lightweight bout between Kurt Pellegrino and Fabricio Camoes will replace the Alves vs. Fitch bout it on the UFC 111 live broadcast, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports.
Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more information on this story as it develops.
(UPDATED 8:45 a.m., March 25 – Added replacement bout for live broadcast and credit to TMZ.com for its initial report.)
Source: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/tem ... &zoneid=13