A knee injury has dashed Carlos Condit's hopes for a slugfest with Chris Lytle (30-17-5 MMA, 9-9 UFC) at UFC 127.
Sources close to the event today informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Condit (26-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will be out of action for a minimum of a month and will be unable to compete. Sportsnet.ca first reported the possibility of the former WEC champ's withdrawal.
UFC 127 takes place Feb. 27 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia and airs live on pay-per-view. Due to the time difference, the event airs live in the U.S. on Feb. 26 in its normal Saturday-night timeslot. A welterweight clash between former champion B.J. Penn and perennial contender Jon Fitch headlines.
It's unknown at this time whether the UFC has found a replacement for Condit. The fighter most recently appeared this past October at UFC 120 and saw his stock rapidly climb with a first-round knockout of one-time contender Dan Hardy. That triumph followed a TKO win over Rory MacDonald at UFC 115and a decision against Jake Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night 19
Lytle, meanwhile, quietly has amassed a four-fight win streak with UFC victories over Kevin Burns, Brian Foster, Matt Brown and former champ Matt Serra. "The Ultimate Fighter 4" runner-up said he wants to close out his career with a shot at the belt, though it's unclear now where he stands in the title contention picture.
For the latest on UFC 127, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
Check out more UFC News at MMAjunkie.com. This story originally appeared on MMAjunkie.com and is syndicated on Yahoo! Sports as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.