Cain Velasquez forced out of UFC 196 with back injury

The UFC immediately announced a replacement for Velasquez in Stipe Miocic, but Werdum pulled out of the matchup the following day due to a back injury. With the UFC not able to salvage a heavyweight main event, it announced it was moving UFC 196 itself to Fox Sports 1 instead of keeping it on pay-per-view. However, Cain sustained a serious back injury, and had to be replaced by No. 2 contender Stipe Miocic.

Werdum defeated Velasquez by submission during the summer in Mexico City, where the high altitude diminished Velasquez in what was a return to his father’s home country.

Then, Werdum backed out of the fight with an injury too, leaving the UFC scrambling to patch together the event.

As for Miocic, it is a great opportunity for the 33-year-old veteran who defeated Andrei Arlovski in just 54 seconds at UFC 195 last January 2.

But the Los Angeles-based Werdum changed his mind and left the UFC scrambling for a centerpiece to an important pay-per-view show.

One can simply compare the state of division to December 2011, when former champion Lesnar last fought in the Octagon, to now to see how the division is suffering.

“I decided not to fight because I’m not 100%”, the Brazilian said.

Velasquez issued a statement on his Facebook page and apologized to Werdum for pulling out of their fight. The two are now scheduled to fight at UFC’s next Fox card on January 30.

“Interim title, It’s set up for a title match“.

Rothwell is riding a three-fight winning streak, with first-round finishes in his last two outings.

An encore of those twin beatings followed the next year, with Velasquez needing less time to accomplish the exact same feat in rematches with both Silva and dos Santos. Wish granted – Miocic was officially named the next UFC heavyweight title challenger shortly thereafter. “I greatly respect you as a fighter and man, and we will meet soon”, he added.