Tyron Woodley Injured, Out of UFC Minneapolis Headliner

BREAKING: Tyron Woodley has been forced to withdraw from his June 29 bout against Robbie Lawler due to injury, per sources. UFC looking for a replacement to keep Lawler on the card in Minneapolis. More info coming soon to @ESPN.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 17, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has lost one of its main event participants for its return to Minneapolis, as Tyron Woodley has been forced to pull out of his bout with Robbie Lawler.

According to ESPN on Friday, Woodley (19-4-1) suffered a hand injury and was forced to withdraw from his headlining battle with Lawler (28-13, 1 NC) at UFC on ESPN 3. This event will take place on June 29 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and the promotion is actively seeking a replacement opponent for Lawler.

Woodley went under the knife to repair his hand towards the end of last year, and in his last outing he lost his welterweight strap to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 this March. Prior to the loss, Woodley had defended his title four times after winning it from Lawler by knockout in 2016.

Lawler is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak to Rafael dos Anjos, and most recently, a controversial technical submission loss to Ben Askren also at UFC 235. Arguably one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the sport, Lawler engaged in Sherdog.com's "Fight of the Year" three years straight, in 2014, 2015 and 2016 against Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit, respectively.

UFC on ESPN 3 takes place on June 29 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The event will contain matchups including a de facto flyweight title eliminator between Joseph Benavidez and Jussier da Silva, and a bantamweight tussle between Sergio Pettis and Ricardo Ramos.