With opponent injured, Machida taken off UFC 89 card

Following the news first reported by MMAWeekly.com last weekend that ThiagoSilva had been forced out of UFC 89 due to a back injury, his opponent, Lyoto Machida tells Tatame.com that he has been told no replacement will be found and to expect a move to a future card instead.

"There's no way to find and opponent now, and I'll have to wait another event to fight," said Machida in the interview with Tatame. "I don't know who'll I face, UFC didn't say anything yet, only that I won't fight at UFC 89."

The removal of Machida from the card will of course fuel speculation that the Brazilian may get the opportunity to step in against another top light heavyweight such as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who has said his return could come as early as December.

As for the UFC 89 card, the main event between England native Michael Bisping and Chris Leben is still ready to go, as well as pivotal match-ups between Brandon Vera and Keith Jardine, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou versus Luis Cane.

The UFC has made no official announcement regarding Machida's removal from the card, so it is still unknown at this time which undercard fight will get the bump up to the televised portion of the show.

UFC 89 will be shown via tape delay on Spike TV.