UFC suffer blow as Frankie Edgar, Dominick Cruz to withdraw from 218 and 219 respectively

The UFC have suffered two huge blows as Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz have both sustained injuries and will be out of their December fights at 218 and 219 respectively.

Edgar was due to take on featherweight champion Max Holloway in a title fight which was to be the main event of UFC 218 in Detroit on 2 December.

However, "The Answer" suffered an undisclosed injury, first reported by Combate, and will only be able to train and fight with full contact in six weeks according to his Instagram post.

It is uncertain whether Holloway will remain on the Detroit card and defend his belt against a short-notice opponent but "Blessed" is still hoping to be in action.

The likely replacements are former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson, both of whom have expressed an interest in replacing Edgar and getting revenge on Holloway.

However, both fighters are scheduled to fight in December, with Swanson only having one fight left on his current UFC deal.

Meanwhile, just hours after the Edgar news, the UFC 219 card on 30 December also took a hit as Cruz is reported to have suffered a broken arm, pulling him out of his bantamweight bout with Jimmie Rivera.

In what was likely to be a number one contender fight for new champion TJ Dillashaw's bantamweight title, Rivera is now left without an opponent with Brazil's John Lineker offering to step up as a replacement.

After the success of UFC 217 on 4 November, it looked like the promotion was turning the tide after what had been an underwhelming year.

However, despite the recent injuries, the two end-of-year cards are still stacked with UFC 219 still yet to receive a main event.