With less than one week before the event, former MFC Light Heavyweight Champion Trevor Prangley has withdrawn from a featured December 19th middleweight bout with former EliteXC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler due to an undisclosed injury. Lawler will remain on the Showtime-aired Strikeforce: “Evolution” card.

Prangley, who was bizarrely stripped of his MFC title amidst a dispute with MFC owner Mark Pavelich, suffered the injury during training and will not be ready to face Lawler at the San Jose event.

Lawler (16-5-0, 1 NC) has won eight of his last eleven fights, with all but one of the victories coming by knockout. He captured the EliteXC Middleweight Championship with a third-round stoppage of Murilo “Ninja” Rua at EliteXC: “Uprising” in September of 2007 and successfully defended the title against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in the pair’s July 2008 rematch.

Known best for his heavy hands and all-out brawls with opponents, Lawler is one of the top middleweight talents in the rapidly-expanding Strikeforce roster, but he succumbed to a guillotine choke against current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields in their headlining bout in June.

Now looking to climb back into title contention, Lawler will need an impressive victory on the “Evolution” card if he wishes to claim Strikeforce gold. A replacement opponent for Lawler should be announced within the next two days and he is still expected to compete on the card.

Prangley (22-5-0), a relative journeyman who has won 11 of his last 12 bouts and captured the MFC Light Heavyweight Championship in May, will be forced to delay his Strikeforce return due to the injury, which occurred during training at the American Kickboxing Academy. The South African has been a contender throughout his career.

Strikeforce: “Evolution” takes place this coming Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It airs live on Showtime in the United States and Super Channel in Canada.