Lavar Johnson attacking Virgil Zwicker (photo via Strikeforce / Esther Lin)

By FCF Staff

The latest UFC competitor to be hit by the injury bug is heavyweight Lavar Johnson, who has been forced to withdraw from his UFC on FOX 5 bout with Brendan Schaub due to a pulled groin. The promotion’s president Dana White confirmed the withdrawal via Twitter.

In a follow up post on UFC.com, it was announced that due to the short notice–the event takes place December 8th–no replacement will be sought and Schaub will not compete.

Schaub (8-3), who is coming off back-to-back losses to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell after winning four straight, stated via Twitter:

Frustrated would be an understatement..back to the gym

Johnson (17-6) hasn’t competed since May when he was tapped out by Stefan Struve. The defeat followed wins in his first two Octagon bouts versus Joey Beltran and Pat Barry.

UFC on FOX 5 will be hosted by Seattle’s Key Arena and will feature lightweight champion Benson Henderson versus Nate Diaz in the main event.