Chris Weidman is out of his scheduled UFC 155 bout with Tim Boetsch and will be replaced by teammate Constantinos Philippou.

Newsday first reported Wednesday that Weidman (9-0) hurt his shoulder in training and had to withdraw from the bout between the top middleweight contenders, which was set for Dec. 29 in Las Vegas. The UFC later confirmed on Twitter that Philippou, whose UFC 154 bout Saturday was scrapped after opponent Nick Ring woke up ill the day of the fight, will replace him.

"I hit a double-leg (takedown) and that's it," Weidman told Newsday. "My shoulder landed weird and I felt a pop. I can't even move my arm."

It’s the second bit of bad fortune in the past few months for Weidman, who believes he tore his labrum. In late October, the Baldwin, N.Y., native lost his Long Island home to severe damage from Hurricane Sandy. Thankfully his wife and children were unharmed.

The unbeaten fighter, who trains under Matt Serra and Ray Longo at the latter’s MMA academy in Garden City, N.Y., had only recently returned to training. Weidman is coming off a "Knockout of the Night" win over Mark Munoz in the headliner of a July 11 UFC on FUEL TV event in San Jose, and the winner of his matchup against Boetsch was expected to be in the mix to be the next No. 1 contender in the 185-pound division.

The Cypriot Philippou, who is on a four-fight win streak, will start up a new camp after preparing to face Ring this past weekend in Montreal. The Calgary fighter was fine after Friday’s weigh-ins but woke up Saturday morning extremely sick and after the doctor examined him, he would not clear Ring to fight.

Boetsch (16-4) has also won his last four fights, including a split-decision victory over former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard at UFC 149 on July 21 in Calgary.

UFC 155 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and is headlined by the heavyweight title bout between champion Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.


Source WEIDMAN HURT, PHILIPPOU IN VS. BOETSCH AT UFC 155
Source CHRIS WEIDMAN INJURED, COSTA PHILIPPOU NOW FACES TIM BOETSCH AT UFC 155 IN LAS VEGAS