Cain Velasquez Injured; Fabricio Werdum Faces Stipe Miocic

Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez has withdrawn from the main event of UFC 196, citing a back injury.

UFC officials on Sunday announced that Velasquez, who was set to rematch current champion Fabricio Werdum, will be replaced by Stipe Miocic in the pay-per-view headliner. UFC 196 takes place Feb. 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with a three-round welterweight contest between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson serving as co-main event.

Injuries are nothing new for Velasquez, whose most recent title reign lasted two and a half years but saw the 33-year-old defend his belt only twice before surrendering it to Werdum in a June 2015 submission loss. Velasquez has previously undergone surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and has also been sidelined with a knee injury.

Shortly after the news was announced, Velasquez authored a Facebook post in which he apologized to fans and Werdum, and stated that he would have risked long-term damage if he chose to fight through the injury.

“Training camp has been difficult for the last few weeks,” Velasquez wrote, “But sometimes no matter how much the heart and mind want to fight through an injury, healing has its own timeline. We thought we’d get through it, but we had to face the truth that it wasn’t going to be OK in time to fight.

“All of us fighters have all fought injured at one time or another, but I can’t ignore this injury, as my doctor has indicated that not addressing the problems with my sciatic nerve could have longer-term consequences.”

Werdum, 38, sits atop the UFC throne with a six-fight winning streak, unbeaten since transferring to the promotion from Strikeforce in February 2012. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace has showcased improved striking in recent outings, battering Velasquez on the feet before securing a choke and scoring a knockout win against heavy-handed kickboxer Mark Hunt.

Miocic, 33, comes fresh off a Jan. 2 victory against Andrei Arlovski which saw him knock out the onetime UFC champ in just 54 seconds. The Ohioan has won five of his last six, including three stoppages, with the only defeat coming in a December 2014 setback against Junior dos Santos.

lol, can't say I am shocked. Velasquez was held up as this god by the zombies, now he is 13-2 and injured for years at a time. In the last 5 years he is 4-2, only fighting 3 different opponents. This is GOAT material to the zombies? lol

it's these kind of injuries that made Cain so inconsistent over the years, big blow to the super bowl weekend card

Kinosis wrote:lol, can't say I am shocked.  Velasquez was held up as this god by the zombies, now he is 13-2 and injured for years at a time.  In the last 5 years he is 4-2, only fighting 3 different opponents.  This is GOAT material to the zombies? lol

Well, the zombies and the UFC were claiming him to be the greatest heavyweight of all time after the third JDS fight happened.

Cain is talented but this is ridiculous and it's been ridiculous for a long time.

They should cut him...

I'd still like to see Fyodor vs Velasquez

Prime Fedor would have Zulu'd Cain.

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Prime Fedor would have Zulu'd Cain.

werdum would have beat him again anyways

seas level or under water level cain

Werdum is now also injured and off this UFC card. Major blow to Super Bowl weekend UFC event.

stu3ufc wrote:

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Prime Fedor would have Zulu'd Cain.

werdum would have beat him again anyways

seas level or under water level cain

Cain fights like he's under water. Slow poke with no defense. That big head is a sitting duck for any competent striker.

I don't think Cain sucks but he was super overrated. If Fedor still fights like he did in his last 3 fights before he retired I think he beats Cain. Cain gets hit a lot and his chin is questionable when hit by a power striker. Fedor is older but I'd still pick him if he fights smart.

And yeah, Werdum is out now also. That card completely blows now but that is what happens when you only put 1 good fight on each card.

Porcelain Cain better use his brain and learn how to train

Good. He didn't deserve the instant rematch in the first place

Werdum said if cain was still fighting he'd fight but since its miocic he wont? Wtf

Either you can fight or can't i dont get it especially since stylistically it isn't that different of a fight.

Just wondering everyone's thoughts....

fka wrote:Werdum said if cain was still fighting he'd fight but since its miocic he wont? Wtf

Either you can fight or can't i dont get it especially since stylistically it isn't that different of a fight.

Just wondering everyone's thoughts....

I like Werdum but it was a weird statement. I think he didn't want to take a chance on losing to someone new, He already knew he could destroy Cain. I would have picked Werdum over Miocic anyway. When Werdum is healed he should be fighting Miocic or Overeem, not Cain.

ufc drama sucks

I think Werdum has every right to pull out of the fight.

If you're a champion or number one contender, you should always have the option of a full training camp.

I think Werdum vs. Reem makes most sense next since Reem finished top contender JDS in his last fight and was on a streak before that.  Reem is a free agent though, so we'll see. UFC will probably try hard to keep him and offer a good contract since he is a top contender now.

Kinosis wrote:

fka wrote:Werdum said if cain was still fighting he'd fight but since its miocic he wont? Wtf

Either you can fight or can't i dont get it especially since stylistically it isn't that different of a fight.

Just wondering everyone's thoughts....

I like Werdum but it was a weird statement.  I think he didn't want to take a chance on losing to someone new,  He already knew he could destroy Cain.  I would have picked Werdum over Miocic anyway.  When Werdum is healed he should be fighting Miocic or Overeem, not Cain.  

yeah but knowing them they want cain as the champ .plus you would think they want cain to beat werdum instead  stipe ,even though i still think werdum would beat cain i mean really what was he  going to do differently ?  . I say put on more pressure try to grind werdum against the fence try to get in on the inside and throw bombs fake the takedown more often . I bet it would of been one of those things. I doubt cain was going to do some new age futuristic dbz shit .

Longtime Fan wrote:Porcelain Cain better use his brain and learn how to train

Good. He didn't deserve the instant rematch in the first place

Knowing the ufc they will hold on as long as they can ,they really want cain as the champ

Kinosis wrote:lol, can't say I am shocked.  Velasquez was held up as this god by the zombies, now he is 13-2 and injured for years at a time.  In the last 5 years he is 4-2, only fighting 3 different opponents.  This is GOAT material to the zombies? lol

yeah that is very laughable cain is tad overrated anyway look at who he beat fighters that are not even in the ufc anymore a big nog way past his prime a wwe lesnar and two fighters named jds and bigfoot who were great match up's for him style wise . They have gall to give fedor shit ha .

westcott123 wrote:

Kinosis wrote:

fka wrote:Werdum said if cain was still fighting he'd fight but since its miocic he wont? Wtf

Either you can fight or can't i dont get it especially since stylistically it isn't that different of a fight.

Just wondering everyone's thoughts....

I like Werdum but it was a weird statement.  I think he didn't want to take a chance on losing to someone new,  He already knew he could destroy Cain.  I would have picked Werdum over Miocic anyway.  When Werdum is healed he should be fighting Miocic or Overeem, not Cain.  

yeah but knowing them they want cain as the champ .plus you would think they want cain to beat werdum instead  stipe ,even though i still think werdum would beat cain i mean really what was he  going to do differently ?  . I say put on more pressure try to grind werdum against the fence try to get in on the inside and throw bombs fake the takedown more often . I bet it would of been one of those things. I doubt cain was going to do some new age futuristic dbz shit .

Well, UFC and The Zombies are convinced that the altitude affected him and that being at sea level will prevent him from tiring out and the fact that he gets better in rematches.

Yeah they pretty much said that is the only reason why he lost as for rematch thing i still think jds big foot match up well for cain to beat i know im repeating myself but i still think it is true .

Lets be real here if werdum was the one who  gassed   out would they say anything about altitude ? it would be more likely of how cain has an endless gas tank he is the greatest heavyweight of all time yadda yadda .