 MMA Weekly is reporting that Strikeforce light heavy weight champion Bobby Southworth has been forced to withdraw from his planned title defense against Renato “Babalu” Sobral at the promotions Sept. 20th show at the Playboy Mansion. Representatives from Strikeforce confirmed to MMA Weekly that Southworth suffered an injury to his ACL. The extent of the injury is unknown at this moment.
Strikeforce has named Anthony Ruiz as a replacement for the inured Southworth. Ruiz is coming off a win over Jeremy Freitag under the EliteXC banner in July. This fight came only a month after Southworth defeated Ruiz in a light heavyweight title fight on Strikeforce's Melendez vs. Thompson card in June.
Sobral is coming off a unanimous decision over Mike Whitehead at Affliction's premiere show. It is not yet clear whether the winner of the bout will be granted a title shot in the future.
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