Less than a month before his scheduled fight against Frank Gomez, Chesterton's Eddie Wineland has pulled out of the bout with an injury to his right elbow.

Wineland said Wednesday morning that the lingering injury has forced him to withdraw from his fight on June 7 in Sacramento.

Wineland, World Extreme Cagefighting's former bantamweight champion, was scheduled to meet Frank Gomez on the undercard of WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber II at the ARCO Arena. He last fought at WEC 40 in Chicago on April 5, losing to Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Rani Yahya.

"It's a recurring injury," Wineland said. "This time, it's been a little more severe than normal. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I'm pretty sure it's some kind of tendinitis. It gets to the point where I can't even pick up a bottle to take a drink. If I relax it and leave it alone for a little while, it'll go away. But as soon as I start activity again, it starts to flare up."

Wineland (14-6-1, 1-2 WEC) is scheduled to participate in a live chat with fans at The Times' MMA site Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Central. He'll still take part, allowing fans to ask him exclusively about the injury, what he has planned moving forward and the sport in general.

Prior to his loss to Yahya, Wineland had been out of the WEC for two fights, picking up local wins at Total Fight Challenge 11 and C3 Domination, with both regional cards taking place at the Hammond Civic Center.

Wineland won the WEC's bantamweight belt in 2006 with a knockout of Antonio Banuelos at WEC 20. Less than a year later, he lost the belt to Chase Beebe, in his first title defense, at WEC 26. Beebe went on to lose the belt -- after one successful defense against Yahya -- to current title holder Miguel Torres, of East Chicago, who is considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.

Torres said Wednesday that Wineland had asked him to be in his corner for WEC 41, and that having him pull out of the fight will create opportunities for other fighters -- potentially even for fighters from Northwest Indiana.

"There's always disappointment," Torres said after hearing about Wineland's injury. "But out of his not being able to fight, it's going to open up doors for somebody else to come in." Torres hinted that he may begin to make a push in the near future for fighters from his school, Torres Martial Arts Academy in Hammond, to get a shot in the WEC.

"These young guys that are coming into this sport now, they're all about training and fighting," Torres said. "If you have a side job, or you're going to school and training on the side, it's not enough anymore. This is a sport that you have to dedicate your full time to, and his not being able to fight is going to open up the door for somebody else."

Wineland is a full-time firefighter in Chesterton.

After the Yahya loss, Wineland said he was excited to be getting back into the cage so quickly, which would have been just two months after his last fight and at the WEC's first possible opportunity. Now that next fight will be shelved until Wineland's elbow can heal.

"I wouldn't say this is a setback, it's more or less a disappointment," Wineland said. "I was really looking forward to getting back in there and getting another win under my belt. But I can't go in there half-ready and take a chance at getting beat and hurt -- and there's more of a chance (at getting hurt) if I'm not ready."

Wineland couldn't put a timetable on how long it might take before he's able to fight again.

"It's hard to say -- how long does tendinitis take to heal? It could be a week, it could be three months," Wineland said. "I'm hoping it's not very long. I've been trying to do as little as possible with my elbow, trying to get it to heal."

Wineland said he called WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby on Wednesday to tell him of the injury and informed him he wouldn't be able to take the fight.

"He wasn't upset," Wineland said. "He understands -- he's been around the sport long enough that he knows injuries happen and the strain on the body is gonna take its toll sooner or later."

Messages to Gomez's agent were not returned early Wednesday afternoon.

WEC 41 features a main event rematch of featherweight champion Mike Brown against challenger Urijah Faber, one of the most anticipated fights in the company's history.

Click here for Wednesday night's live chat with Wineland. For more MMA breaking news, features, live event coverage and more, be sure to visit The Times' MMA site.