The UFC's recent stretch of high profile injuries continues as former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from an upcoming UFC card due to a severe staff infection.

The staff infection will force Nogueira out of his highly anticipated heavyweight bout against rising contender Cain Velasquez, which was recently announced to serve as the main event of UFC 108 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas. The winner of the bout was guaranteed a heavyweight title shot.

UFC president Dana White revealed the news at the UFC 105 post-event press conference.

"Nogueira got staph infection, bad, to the point now it's in his bloodstream, and he's probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics." said White.

Nogueria was looking to build off of his impressive recent win over Randy Couture at UFC 102 in August.

This isn't the first time the former Pride champion has been sidelined with a staph infection. Nogueria was previously diagnosed with a staff infection before his title fight against Frank Mir at UFC 92 in December 2008. Nogueira didn't appear quite himself during the fight, as he was very sluggish, and ended up being finished for the time in his career via second round TKO at the hands of Mir.

White is shocked by the amount of injuries that have been piling up recently. The tough stretch is unlike anything he has seen since in his nine years at the helm of the organization.

"It's crazy," White said. "In nine years of being in this business, we haven't had this many injuries in one (full) year."

Despite Nogueria's withdrawal from the event and the uncertainty surrounding the main event, White expects UFC 108 to feature a solid lineup.

"This is my business; this is what we do," White said. "My job is to put on fights, and we'll get some fights for Jan. 2."

UFC 108 has been one of the cards most highly by all of the recent injuries, as two previous main event bouts were lost. First, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was unable to defend his title against Vitor Belfort due to elbow surgery. Then, UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin were rescheduled for UFC 108, however, that bout was scrapped after Lesnar's illness continued to worsen. Lesnar vs. Carwin was originally set to main event UFC 106 on Nov. 21.

It is not yet known if Cain Velasquez will remain on the UFC 108 card, however, one thing is certain -- he wont be facing Shane Carwin which would have seemed an obvious choice. When his bout with Lesnar was again postponed, Carwin opted to go under the knife in order to take care of a lingering minor knee injury that had been hampering him.

If another main event caliber fight can't be put together for UFC 108, then the event's co-headliner, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva, could be moved up to headlining status.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 108 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!