A crucial featherweight fight scheduled for December’s UFC 231 event has taken a hit with Mirsad Bektic being forced to withdraw from his matchup against Renato Moicano.

An undisclosed injury caused Bektic (13-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) to pull out of the matchup with Moicano (13-1-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), and the UFC is currently searching for a replacement to step in.

MMAjunkie confirmed the news with a person close to the situation following an initial report from FloCombat.com. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

Moicano, No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, was touted to be the backup fighter for UFC 231, which features a 145-pound title-fight headliner between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega.

The Brazilian is on a high after a slick first-round submission of Cub Swanson at UFC 227 in August. The 29-year-old Moicano has been stellar in his MMA career, with his only blemish coming against Ortega in a fight he was winning before being submitted.

The latest UFC 231 lineup includes:

• Champ Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega – for featherweight title
• Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for vacant women’s flyweight title
• Jimi Manuwa vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos
• Nina Ansaroff vs. Claudia Gadelha
• Eryk Anders vs. Elias Theodorou
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Gilbert Burns
• Brad Katona vs. Matthew Lopez
• Chad Laprise vs. Dhiego Lima
• Diego Ferreira vs. John Makdessi
• Kyle Bochniak vs. Hakeem Dawodu
• Devin Clark vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jessica Eye
• Renato Moicano vs. opponent TBA
• Gunnar Nelson vs. Alex Oliveira

For more on the UFC 231, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.