Cro Cop to face replacement opponent

Published Feb. 19, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Ariel Shnerer, The Fight Network

An illness has forced IFL veteran Ben Rothwell (30-7) to withdraw from Saturday's UFC 110 matchup against Pride Fighting Championships legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (25-7-2).

Australian journeyman Anthony "The Hippo" Perosh (10-5) has accepted the bout against Cro Cop on short notice.

Training alongside Elvis Sinosic, who has also withdrawn from the card, Perosh is coming off a first-round stoppage of Kym Robinson in December. Having competed primarily for the Cage Fighting Championships promotion in Australia, Perosh was released from the UFC in 2006 following consecutive losses against Jeff Monson and Christian Wellisch.

Cro Cop is coming off a TKO loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 103 in September.

In another late change to UFC 110, a shoulder injury has forced Sinosic (8-11-2) to pull out of his bout against countryman Chris Haseman (20-16). Sinosic, who went 1-6 during his first stint in the UFC, has not competed under the Zuffa banner since losing to Michael Bisping at UFC 70 in 2007.

With no replacement attainable on such short notice, the UFC has scrapped the preliminary matchup.