A planned welterweight grudge match between Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and John “Doomsday” Howard on the debut “UFC On Versus” card has been cancelled after Johnson suffered a knee injury in training. Undefeated submission specialist Daniel Roberts will step in to face Howard at the March 21st event.

Johnson was first set to face Howard last June at the TUF Season 9 finale, but Howard withdrew from the fight. A war of words between the two followed, but they will now have to wait to settle the score.

Howard (13-4-0) entered the Octagon for the first time at UFC 94 and picked up a close Split Decision victory over highly-touted IFL veteran Chris “The Professor” Wilson. He repeated that feat with a contested decision win over Tamdan “The Barncat” McCrory at UFC 101 and battled back from the brink of certain defeat when he knocked out Dennis “Superman” Hallman with just five seconds remaining in their December bout at the TUF 10 finale. The heavy-handed Boston native has finished nine of his opponents to date.

Roberts (9-0-0) made his mixed martial arts debut in September of 2007 and picked up a hard-fought Split Decision victory. He has only gone the distance one time since then and has submitted the remainder of his opponents. He most recently defeated Anthony Macias at 5150/XFL: “New Year’s Revolution” on January 16th. Already one of the top stars in the Oklahoma fight scene, Roberts will look to keep his perfect record intact when he steps in to face Howard on the debut UFC card on the Versus network.

“UFC On Versus 1” takes place on March 21st at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Brandon “The Truth” Vera and Jon “Bones” Jones.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)