Yesterday Versus.com reported that Rafael Natal had been forced to drop out of his fight against Alessio Sakara due to a knee injury suffered while training, according to sources close to the event.

A new opponent has yet to be named for Sakara, as Natal was pegged to replace Maiquel Falcao after he was forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury. If an opponent is found it will be the third scheduled fighter for the Italian.

Since December 2009, Sakara has withdrawn from four separate bouts while three different opponents had to back out of fights with the hard hitting Italian. Many are beginning to wonder if we will ever see Legionarius back in the Octagon.

It began when he was forced out of a contest against Rousimar Palhares at the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. He then successfully fought and defeated James Irvin in March. A bout with Nate Marquardt at UFC 116 was scrapped after the death of Sakara's father. 

He was then scheduled to fight Jorge Rivera at UFC 118 but Rivera had to withdraw due to an injury. Gerald Harris was signed on to replace him, but Sakara then dropped out of the bout as well. Rivera and Sakara planned to fight at UFC 122, but Sakara had to back out on the day of the fight due to flu-like symptoms he contracted from food poisoning. 

Now, Sakara has had two straight opponents cancel their fights against him at the UFC on Versus 3 card due to various injuries. Hopefully the UFC can find another opponent for Legionarius, as he hasn't fought since last March.