It turns out the third time is not a charm.
Results of an MRI conducted today confirmed that Alessio Sakara (15-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has torn his ACL and will be out a minimum of six to eight months, a representative from American Top Team confirmed today with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
The news spoils Sakara's bout with Jorge Rivera (19-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC), which was targeted for UFC 133 on Aug. 6 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
A search is underway for a replacement. Rivera first announced the news on "The MMA Hour."
It's the third time a scheduled bout between the middleweights has been sacked. The fighters first were supposed to meet at UFC 118 before Rivera broke his arm and was forced to withdraw. A second meeting was canceled when Sakara fell ill just hours before UFC 122.
With news of today's main-card cancellation, the matchup appears to be cursed.
ATT representative Dan Lambert said the injury occurred last week in training but was unaware of its cause.
Sakara had hoped to rebound from a unanimous-decision loss to late replacement Chris Weidman at UFC on Versus 3. Prior to the defeat, the Italian striker strung together consecutive wins over Joe Vedepo, Thales Leites and James Irvin.
Rivera's representatives at Alchemist Management told MMAjunkie.com the fighter will remain on the pay-per-view main card, though an opponent has not yet been confirmed. UFC 133 preliminary-card fighters Rafael "Sapo" Natal and Costantinos Phillippou are among a handful of possibilities.
Rivera looks to rebound from a February loss to contender Michael Bisping. Rivera, who was slowed by an accidental low blow, waged a trash-talking campaign ahead of the UFC 127 co-headliner but ultimately suffered a second-round TKO defeat. Prior to the loss, he entered title contention with four victories in five UFC fights. Three of the victories (over Kendall Grove, Rob Kimmons and Nate Quarry) came via knockout.
The latest UFC 133 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort
Jorge Rivera vs. TBA
Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle
Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill
Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace
Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan
Rafael "Sapo" Natal vs. Costantinos Phillippou
Source: Curse continues: Sakara out of UFC 133 with torn ACL, Rivera awaits replacement
