Dominick Cruz’s return to the octagon will have to be pushed back and, as a result, UFC 219 has lost a significant bout.

Cruz (22-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has been ruled out of his fight with Jimmie Rivera after suffering a broken arm, according to a report from MMAFighting.com. Rivera  (21-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) confirmed Cruz’s withdrawal from the bout when reached by MMAjunkie via text message.

UFC 219 takes place Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Cruz, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, dropped the 135-pound belt to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 last December. Cruz opted to take time off and was originally angling for a fight against the winner of Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw, who knocked out “No Love” last Saturday to reclaim the title at UFC 217.

After losing his second MMA fight in November 2008, No. 5 Rivera has rattled off 20 consecutive wins, including five in the UFC. He’s coming off a unanimous decision over Thomas Almeida at UFC on FOX 25 in July.

It remains unclear if the UFC will attempt to find Rivera a replacement opponent.

The latest UFC 219 card includes:

• Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Jimmie Rivera vs. opponent TBD
• Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
• Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
• Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
• Khalil Rountree vs. Gokhan Saki
• Rick Glenn vs. Myles Jury
• Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman
• Marc Diakiese vs. Dan Hooker

For more on UFC 219, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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