So the news the UFC was dredding came on Friday night. The light heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier has pulled out of his upcoming title clash with Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson due to injury.

Any card following UFC205 was likely to come a pale second. UFC206 was supposed to be the return of UFC great, 'GSP' (Georges St Pierre). However the Canadian and the UFC could not agree terms. People have been slowly coming around to the idea that a rematch between Cormier and Johnson with a decent supporting card would be pay-per-view worthy (just). However now the main event is off, this card is looking average at best.

So how can the card be salvaged? Or perhaps more pertinently, who is out there to give Rumble Johnson a challenge?

Light heavyweight foes

Cormier the champion and Johnson are officially ranked 1 and 2 in the light heavyweight divison. Here is a rundown of the light heavyweight contenders:

Jon Jones (unranked)

Secretly every MMA fan wants to see Jones vs Johnson above any other fight in the light heavyweight division. Jones is pound-for-pound the best fighter in mma. Johnson is the pound-for-pound the biggest puncher.

However along with being the best, Jon Jones is 99 problems rolled up into one! In July he tested positive for a prohibited substance and was given a one-year ban earlier this months. Save to say, Jones won't be fighting Rumble any time soon.

Alexander Gustafsson (ranked 3)

Great fighter, however Rumble has already demolished The Mauler last year in Stockhom (Gusafsson's hometown), in under 3 minutes. No-one needs to see that fight again.

Ryan Bader (ranked 4)

Despite winning his last two fights Bader was pounded out in under 2 minutes by Johnson in January this year. No-one needs to see a re-run of that fight.

Glover Teixeira (ranked 5)

It is less than 3 months since Johnson flattened Teixeira in 13 seconds. It would just be cruel to ever put Teixeria in the same Octogen as Johnson anytime in this decade...

Jimi Manuwa (ranked 6)

Manuwa looked good in his last fight knocking out Ovince St.Preux in the second round. In his fight before that however, he was knocked out himself by... you guessed it Rumble Johnson.

The best of the rest

The rest of the likely light heavyweight contenders looks like this. Rashad Evans (7), has lost his last two fights against Rumble victims Teixeira and Bader, he has moved down to Middleweight and has been refused a licence to fight on UFC206 due to medicial irregularities. Safe to say he is not in contention. Ovince St.Preux (8) is likely serving a medical suspension following his KO defeat by Rumble victim Manuwa in October. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (9) won his last two against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (10) and Corey Anderson (11) but was knocked out by Ovince St Preux before that.

The division is a mess. Outside of Cormier, Johnson and Jones fighting each other, pitting any of those three against anyone else in the division will be akin to animal cruelity.

Thinking left field

Okay, so we've established that there are no realistic 205lbers ready to take on 'Rumble' at UFC206. Maybe the answer lays in the 185lb division? Here are a few fighters at middleweight that may be crazy enough to answer the call and step up to fight Johnson at light heavy:

Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi has come out of his shell of late and has shown a willingness to fight anyone. He even offered to fight Cormier at UFC200 after Jon Jones was suspended from the main event.

Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy has been torturing himself trying to make middleweight for his twice cancelled bout against Rashad Evans. Kennedy would fight just about anyone now and would be grateful for a dessert or two ahead of a light heavyweight showdown against Johnson.

Jacare Sousa

Jacare Sousa recently had his fight against Rockhold cancelled and would likely have been advised by the UFC to stay ready. Could he fill the void and fight Johnson?

Giving Rumble the night off?

It is more than likely that Rumble Johnson will not fight at UFC206. He has nothing to gain by fighting either Mousasi, Kennedy, Jacare or any of the lower ranked light heavyweights. Johnson will likely wait out for a fight against Cormier.

There has been talk of making the UFC making the Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis a five round main event fight for the interim featherweight title. It makes no sense whatsoever to make Holloway vs Pettis a title fight but at this point, not many people know or care about what's happening with the title in that division.

A Holloway/ Pettis main event with a Kennedy/ Sousa or Kennedy/ Mousasi co-main event might help save this card from complete collapse.

If the UFC can pull a Houdini and get GSP to return to the UFC in Toronto, then all would be forgiven and 206 will be looked at as a stellar card. GSP vs Rumble Johnson anyone?