Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni (13-10) was scheduled for a welterweight bout at this Friday’s Strikeforce: “Payback” card in Denver, Colo., against an unannounced opponent.

No longer.

Baroni has been forced to withdraw because of a cut sustained in a unanimous decision win over Mexican fighter Olaf Alfonso last Friday night a Palace Fighting Championships (PFC) 10.

Here’s a snip from Baroni’s agent, Ken Pavia, via MMANews.com:

“In the first round during an exchange Olaf hit Phil with his only big punch of the fight and it cut Phil. It was significant enough that it required six stitches right in his eye lid. Between the first and second round he realized he was cut and he was like ‘Aww Man, now I can’t fight next week.’”

So he knew right away he’d be missing the trip to Denver, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. He already had the PFC gig booked before ever signing to compete at “Payback,” otherwise he probably would have just took the more high profile spot on the Strikeforce card.

Strikeforce officials knew it, too. They knew he had a scheduled match one week prior to its event, but they took a gamble on him coming out of the bout uninjured and still able to compete.

It’s a gamble the promotion will now have to pay for as the October 3 “Payback” card losses some quality name value with Baroni’s absence. As stated above, there was no opponent announced for “The New York Badass” at the Strikeforce event so it’s unclear if a replacement will even be needed.

The event will still be headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between Denver native Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Sam Morgan, and will be co-main evented by a middleweight bout between Frank Trigg and Niko Vitale.

For more on the Strikeforce: “Payback” card click here.