Those looking forward to the main event of UFC Fight Night 17 got some bad news when Hermes Franca announced that he tore the ACL in his right knee. As a result, Franca will miss his bout against Joe Lauzon.

Jeremy Stephens was chosen to replace Franca in the UFC event, which will take place on February 7th in Tampa, Florida at the USF Sun Dome. Stephens has a 3-2 record in the UFC, including a win in his last fight in UFC 91 against Rafael dos Anjos.

While Stephens is a talented mixed martial arts fighter who has good potential in the sport, many MMA fanatics were excited to see Franca fight again. In UFC 90, Franca defeated Marcus Aurelio in an impressive performance.

Franca personally made the announcement of his injury on mixedmartialarts.com forums. Franca wrote the following in a post: “To all My Fans, unfortunely i am not gonna be able to fight UFC 17 in Tampa Florida, i just tore my ACL on my right knee last saturday. I think you guys deserve to hear that from me. I just want to take care of that , and Joe lauzon you’re lucky…”

Also on the main card in UFC Fight Night 17 are four other fights. In a lightweight bout, Josh Neer will take on Mac Danzig. The welterweight fight on the main card has Anthony Johnson going up against Luigi Fioravanti. Dan Miller will fight Jake Rosholt in the middleweight bout, while the heavyweight fight will feature Cain Velasquez and Denis Stojnic.

The preliminary card has five other fights. Three of those fights are lightweight bouts, one is a middleweight bout and the other is a welterweight bout. You can watch UFC Fight Night 17 on SpikeTV starting at 9:00 PM Eastern. The fights will be shown live from the dome in Tampa.

Tags: hermes franca, Mixed Martial Arts, MMA, UFC
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