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Injury Forces Urijah Faber Off UFC Japan Card, Alex Caceres Takes His Place

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Urijah Faber won’t be returning to the Octagon as soon as initially planned.

The former WEC champion’s climb back into title contention has been derailed due to an undisclosed injury. He had been slated to face Octagon newcomer Masanori Kanehara.

With Faber out of the fight, the man he last defeated, Alex Caceres, has agreed to take his place. He will face Kanehara at UFC Fight Night 52 on Sept. 20 in Saitama, Japan.

Kanehara (23-11-5) is a rare case as a fighter making his UFC debut while coming off a loss. In his last outing, the Japanese fighter was disqualified for throwing his opponent out of the ring at DEEP: 66 Impact. Prior to the loss, Kanehara won six fights in a row.

Caceres (10-6, 1 NC) had been on quite a run before losing to Faber. He had won four of his previous five bouts with the fifth bout being a no contest that he had initially won before testing positive for marijuana.

UFC Fight Night Japan is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson, and will stream on UFC Fight Pass.

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