"Kid" Yamamoto out of UFC 130 bout with Chris Cariaso

Former K-1 Heroes lightweight champion and all around Japanese mixed martial arts legend, Norifumi Yamamoto is now out of his previously scheduled bout with Chris Cariaso.

The two bantamweights were originally expected to meet at UFC 130, a pay-per-view event which takes place on May 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main-event of the evening will pit champion Frankie Edgar against rival Gray Maynard in their rubber match.

Yamamoto was forced to withdraw from the match-up recently when he suffered an injury leading into his May bantamweight tussle.

The DREAM and K-1 veteran in Yamamoto recently took to his twitter in order to inform his fans of his recent run of bad luck.

From the Krazy Bee twitter feed, which is expected to be the home for “Kid Yamamoto”, the user tweeted the following:

“[news of the UFC absence]It was the KID player who was going to participate in UFC130, but that I got injured formally in HP of UFC and was absent was announced. All of you whom I supported are sorry. Support you sequentially; thanking you in advance (sic; google translate)”.

Norifumi was last seen in action at UFC 126 this past February when he debuted in the organization, taking on top contender Demetrious Johnson. Yamamoto, a talented high-school wrestler, was taking down time and time again during the bout and eventually lost a unanimous decision once the bout went to the judges score cards.

The loss was “Kid’s” third such defeat in his past four fights, though for argument’s sake he competed outside of his more natural weight of 135-pounds in favor of the featherweight division, where he lost contentious split-decisions to former Sengoku champion Masanori Kanehara and current Bellator champion Joe Warren both under the DREAM banner in his native Japan (and then eventually Johnson under the UFC banner).

Norifumi’s last win was a knockout victory over the unheralded Fedrerico Lopez in DREAM 14 last May–the victory was sandwiched between defeats at the hands of Kanehara and Johnson, respectively.

The UFC later confirmed Yamamoto’s removal from the upcoming event, though the injury was not identified and no time table for his return was given.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the news? Who would you like to see “Kid” take on upon his return? Sound off in the comment section below.