Gustafsson out of UFC 227 with 'minor injury'

Forget the notion of Anthony Smith versus Alexander Gustafsson in two weeks.

Fresh off his KO win over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC Hamburg on Sunday, Smith offered to fight Gustafsson on short notice at UFC 227 in Los Angeles on Aug. 4.

Gustafsson, the No. 1-ranked light heavyweight, had been scheduled to meet No. 2 contender Volkan Oezdemir at the event, but Oezdemir pulled out Thursday with a nose injury.

However, mere minutes after Smith's call-out, Gustafsson also dropped out of the card due to an injury, as first reported by MMAJunkie.com's John Morgan.

"Alex Gustafsson is out of UFC 227 with a minor injury," the fighter's manager, Nima Safapour, said in a statement.

The injury was sustained last week and will prevent Gustafsson from facing a replacement opponent such as Khalil Rountree or even Daniel Cormier at heavyweight, Safapour said.

"Alex will be fighting again very soon. He will give his side of the story shortly," Safapour added. "We don't care who the opponent is. But whomever we face, it should be for the meaningful result of the (light heavyweight) title."