Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson has been forced out of his scheduled UFC fight with Paul Craig.

Gustafsson was set to take on Craig in a high-profile 205lbs bout set for the September 4 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, MMAjunkie.com reports that Gustafsson has been forced to withdraw from the event due to an undisclosed injury. With “The Mauler” now off of the card, Craig has been left without an opponent. There is no immediate word yet on if the UFC will keep Craig on the September 4 card, or if the promotion will look to remove him from the event and re-book the fight against Gustafsson fight for a later date. For Craig’s sake, he will likely hope he can stay on the card instead.

Gustafsson was looking to get back into the Octagon after losing to Fabricio Werdum last year in a heavyweight bout on Fight Island. It was a very poor performance by Gustafsson in that fight, but he was looking to get back into shape and move back down to 205lbs and make another run at the belt against the red-hot Craig. Unfortunately for Craig, he will not get the chance to fight Gustafsson, and the Swede won’t get the opportunity to fight on the card, either. The hope for Gustafsson would be that he is able to heal up from his injuries quickly and get back into the Octagon as soon as possible, but there is no guarantee that Craig would want to wait for him. Look for Craig to get another opponent in the meantime.

Who do you want to see the UFC match up Paul Craig with for the September 4 card now that Alexander Gustafsson has been forced off of the UFC Vegas 36 card with an injury?