As a result of a shoulder injury, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout with Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira at UFC 114. TMZ.com was first to report on Griffin’s injury, but a formal announcement has not been made.

Griffin last competed at UFC 106 in November and picked up a hard-fought Split Decision victory in his rematch with fellow ex-champ Tito Ortiz. Prior to the fight, Griffin had lost back-to-back fights by knockout to “Sugar” Rashad Evans and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Griffin (17-6-0) captured the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in July of 2008 with a controversial decision victory over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but lost the title in his first defence against Evans. The subsequent loss to Silva was a significant setback for the charismatic Griffin, but he rebounded with a strong performance against Ortiz. Griffin was seen as an underdog leading into the scheduled fight with Nogueira, but will now be sidelined as he recovers from the undisclosed injury to his shoulder.

Nogueira (18-3-0), the twin brother of former PRIDE and UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, made the most of his promotional debut when he destroyed Luiz “Banha” Cane in less than two minutes at UFC 106. He has won six straight fights since his shocking loss to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at PRIDE 33 in 2007 and could vault into the UFC title picture with another impressive victory. A replacement opponent for Nogueira has not been named.

UFC 114: “Jackson vs Evans” takes place on May 29th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight grudge match between former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans.

UFC 114 Fight Card (subject to change):

– Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs “Sugar” Rashad Evans
– Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira vs TBD
– Michael “The Count” Bisping vs Dan Miller
– Todd Duffee vs Mike Russow
– John “The Hitman” Hathaway vs Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez

– Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim vs Amir Sadollah
– Efrain “Hecho en México” Escudero vs Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon
– Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard vs Thiago Tavares
– Luiz “Banha” Cane vs Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate
– Joe Brammer vs Aaron Riley
– Jesse “Kid Hercules” Forbes vs Ryan Jensen

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)