UFC 173 Fight Card: Lyoto Machida will have to wait about six weeks longer for the coveted title shot.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that middleweight champion Chris Weidman has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled title defense against Lyoto Machida on May 24. Weidman suffered a knee injury that will require minor surgery and his bout with Machida has been rescheduled for Saturday, July 5, which most likely will be UFC 175. A new main event for UFC 173 on May 24 will be announced in the days to come.

Originally, This was supposed to be a Middleweight Championship bout between the current champion Chris Weidman and number one contender Vitor Belfort. However, on February 27, the Nevada State Athletic Commission officially banned testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT) from combat sports. Belfort, who was receiving the TRT treatment at the time, was forced to withdraw from the bout and stated, "Given the time constraints involved between now and my proposed next bout in May, I have determined not to apply for a license to fight in Nevada at this time."

As UFC needed to find a new opponent for Weidman, the clearest choice was Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. Machida, a former light heavyweight champ, debuted at middleweight this past October, when he knocked out Mark Munoz. In February, he took a decision from Gegard Mousasi in Brazil, giving him four wins in his past five fights.

The coaches bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 participants Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva was briefly linked to this event. However, the fight will instead be contested on May 31, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale.

The Other Main Fights in this event are:

Heavyweight -Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic

Bantamweight - T.J. Dillashaw vs. Takeya Mizugaki

Lightweight - Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno

Lightweight - Jamie Varner vs. James Krause