A knee injury suffered in training has forced Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos to withdraw from his headlining middleweight bout against Tim Kennedy,  at the Strikeforce Challengers event on September 25 in the SpiritBank Event Center, Oklahoma.

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz confirmed the news today. Afromowitz reportedly  heard about the Santos injury this past weekend at the Strikeforce event headlined by his wife, Cris "Cyborg" Santos, who defeated Gina Carano.

The search is underway for a replacement to take on Kennedy with just a month left until the event.

Santos has lost four of his last five bouts, including losses to Gegard Mousasi, Siyar Bahadurzada and most recently Joey Villasenor at the June Strikeforce Challenger Series event. The 12 year veteran has amassed a very workmanlike record of 16-13,  fighting for numerous promotions such as Sengoku, Pancrese, Cage Rage, Jungle Fight and Pride. 14 of his 16 career wins have came via stoppage.

Kennedy has won his last two bouts, the most recent of which an impressive victory over Nick Thompson in his strikeforce debut. Prior to his duo of wins, Kennedy suffered a loss against Jason "Mayhem" Miller in December 2007. He sports a 10-2 MMA record, with 9 wins coming by stoppage. He holds victories over Jason Miller, Dante Rivera and Ryan McGivern, from his time in promotions such as the IFL, WEC, Extreme Challenge and HDNET Fights.