Leg break forces Benoist off UFC on FX 8

A nagging suspicion was made an unfortunate reality on Friday.

On the eve of tomorrow night's UFC on Fox, it was announced that UFC welterweight Lance Benoist suffered a break in his leg and was forced to pull out of his upcoming fight.

St. Louis' Benoist was slated to take on Paulo Thiago (14-5) in Brazil on May 18 as a part of UFC on FX 8.

According to Benoist's coach, St. Charles MMA's Mike Rogers, the break occurred below the knee and pain in leg had been troubling the 6-2 fighter during the past few days in training.

Benoist made a sensational debut with the UFC, defeating Matt Riddle in Sept. 2011 by unanimous decision that earned a UFC Fight Night 25 Fight of the Night bonus. He then lost a grueling split decision to Seth Baczynski in June of 2012 at UFC on FX 3 just a few weeks after his brother, Logan, passed away in a car accident. In September of 2012, Benoist stepped in on a month's notice to fill in for an injured Dan Miller and lost to Sean Pierson by unanimous decision in Canada at UFC 152 Jones-Belfort.

Undefeated as an amateur, the St. Charles MMA product ran off five first-round finishes (including four choke submissions) to start his pro career before branching over to the UFC.

Benoist and Thiago were set to be on the preliminary card to be aired on Fuel TV. UFC on FX 8 is headlined by Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold.