A back injury has forced Cain Velasquez to pull out of his rematch at UFC 196 against heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and stepping up on thirteen days notice to challenge Werdum for the title will be Stipe Miocic.
UFC President Dana White announced the fight change on early Sunday evening.
UFC 196 will come from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on February 6 and tickets are still available for the event.
Miocic (14-2) is coming off a stoppage victory against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195 and he has won eight of his ten fights in the UFC. Werdum (20-5-1) became the unified UFC champion last year when he defeated Velasquez at UFC 188 and he will enter this fight with six straight wins.
Following the announcement by the UFC that Velasquez was out of the fight, the former UFC heavyweight champion issued a statement about pulling out of the fight and apologized to Werdum for not being able to fight next weekend in Las Vegas.
I’m sure you’ve heard the news that I won’t be able to fight at UFC 196. I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am and how I feel I’m letting you all down. I’ve heard and read all of your messages of support since my last fight and during this camp and for that I thank you.
Training camp has been difficult for the last few weeks, 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.
My fans deserve to see me compete as close to 100% as possible. I’m committed to giving them that. I’m not going to let my fans down, and I want to make sure I do the right things to ensure a long career.
Fabricio, I hope that you accept my sincere apology. I understand how you may think this is an excuse. From one professional to another, I can tell you I was committed and looking forward to competing with you again. I greatly respect you as a fighter and man, and we will meet soon.
I will get this taken care of as soon as possible. I will heal and will come back and show you the Cain Velasquez you all deserve to see.
Sincerely,
Cain
The current UFC 196: Werdum vs. Miocic fight card is below.
Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1) vs. Stipe Miocic (14-2)
Johny Hendericks (17-3) vs. Stephen Thompson (11-1)
Roy Nelson (21-12) vs. Jared Rosholt (14-2)
Ovince Saint Preux (18-7) vs. Rafael Cavalcante (12-6, 1NC)
Joseph Benavidez (23-4) vs. Zach Makovsky (19-6)
Preliminary Card: (FS1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Josh Burkman (28-12, 1NC) vs. KJ Noons (12-7, 1NC)
Derrick Lewis (13-4, 1NC) vs. Damian Grabowski (20-2)
Mike Pyle (26-11-1) vs. Sean Spencer (12-4)
Misha Cirkunov (10-2) vs. Alex Nicholson (6-1)
Preliminary Card: (UFC Fight Pass – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m PT)
Mickey Gall (1-0) vs. Mike Jackson (11-10)
Artem Lobov (12-11, 1NC) vs. Alex White (10-2)
Ray Borg (9-1) vs. Justin Scoggins (10-2)
Noad Lahat (9-1) vs. Diego Rivas (6-0)