Kyle Noke, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson Withdraw from UFC on FX 6, UFC 154 Due to Injury

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Injuries have forced Kyle Noke and Stephen Thompson to withdraw from their upcoming Octagon appearances.

Promotion officials recently announced Noke’s withdrawal from UFC on FX 6, and Thompson’s UFC 154 scratch was initially reported by MMAFighting.com on Friday.

UFC on FX 6 takes place Dec. 15 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Gold Coast, Australia, but the event airs live on Dec. 14 in the United States due to the time difference. Noke was expected to face fellow welterweight Seth Baczynski at the event; promotion officials are currently seeking a replacement opponent for “The Polish Pistola.” UFC on FX 6 will be headlined by a lightweight bout between “Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. U.K.” coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos.

Meanwhile, Thompson’s withdrawal comes on much shorter notice, as “Wonderboy” was slated to meet Besam Yousef on Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It is currently unknown if Yousef will remain on the UFC 154 bill, which is topped by a welterweight title unification bout pitting returning champion Georges St. Pierre against reigning interim belt holder Carlos Condit. The pay-per-view event will also see Johny Hendricks face off with Martin Kampmann in a pivotal welterweight co-headliner.

A former middleweight, Noke, 32, made his welterweight debut one month ago at UFC 152, earning a 45-second technical knockout victory over Charlie Brenneman. The victory snapped a two-fight skid for the Australian, who was submitted by veteran Ed Herman last year and then outpointed by former Legacy Fighting Championship titlist Andrew Craig this past March at UFC on FX 2.

A decorated kickboxer prior to becoming a mixed martial artist, Thompson, 29, rattled off six straight wins to begin his MMA career and made a splash in his UFC debut this past February by knocking out Dan Stittgen with a head kick. However, “Wonderboy” found veteran Matt Brown to be a significantly tougher test in his sophomore outing, as Brown took a unanimous verdict from the karate stylist at UFC 145.