A back injury has forced Michael Chiesa out of this scheduled fight against fellow UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson. The two were expected to do battle in the main event of UFC Fight Night 91 on July 13 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

MMAJunkie was the first to report the news.

Chiesa (13-2), winner of season 15 of TUF, was last seen earning a second round submission win over Beneil Dariush in April. Almost immediately following his win, ‘Maverick’ took to the mic to call out Ferguson.  Prior to his win over Dariush, fans saw the Sik Jitsu product slap submit UFC veteran Jim Miller in December.  Chiesa currently holds UFC record of 7-2.

Ferguson (19-3), winner of season 13 of TUF, is coming off a impressive submission win over Edson Barboza, extending his win streak to eight straight. Prior to this performance, “El Cucuy’ walked away with a dominant decision over former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomas and back-to-back stoppages over Gleison Tibau and Abel Trujillo.

The entire event will go down at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls on July 13. There is currently no word on who will replace Chiesa.

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José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.