A shoulder injury has forced Brian Stann out of his main event bout with former Bellator titleholder Hector Lombard at UFC on FOX 4 on August 4th in Los Angeles, California. Former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua faces Brandon “The Truth” Vera in the new UFC on FOX 4 headliner.

UFC officials confirmed the change on Wednesday evening. Lombard now replaces an also-injured Michael Bisping and faces Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 on July 21st. The Rua-Vera light heavyweight bout will be contested over five rounds and joins two additional 205-pound matchups on the main card.

Rua (20-6-0) has battled through highs and lows since making his UFC debut in 2007 and currently sports a 4-4 record inside the Octagon. The former PRIDE star captured the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in a rematch at UFC 113, but lost the title in his first defence ten months later against current champ Jon “Bones” Jones. Rua avenged a loss from his Octagon debut by destroying Forrest Griffin this past August, but he is coming off of a razor-thin Unanimous Decision defeat against another former PRIDE star, Dan “Hendo” Henderson, at UFC 139. Despite a late rally from Rua in the action-packed five-round battle, it was not enough to steal back the fight on the scorecards and Henderson assumed the number one contender spot at 205 pounds.

Vera (12-5-0, 1 NC) has also endured a rollercoaster ride during his UFC tenure. Once hailed as a future champion in both the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions, Vera suffered losses in three of his four UFC bouts between 2007 and 2008 and was forced back to the drawing board. He rebounded with two wins in 2009 and came out on the wrong end of a contentious Unanimous Decision against UFC legend Randy Couture before the end of the year. Vera’s tenure with the UFC briefly came to an end following losses to Jones and Thiago Silva, but he was brought back to the promotion after Silva was found to have falsified a urine test. Vera defeated Eliot “The Fire” Marshall at UFC 137.

The bout between the Muay Thai strikers is a must-win for both as each fighter looks to get back into contention in the UFC’s ever-changing light heavyweight division.

UFC on FOX 4 takes place on August 4th at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)