This is yet another big hit to the UFC. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard both had to pull out of their scheduled bout at UFC 130 and now UFC 131 sees the loss of Brock Lesnar—their biggest draw.
In a media conference call at 5:00 PM EST, UFC President Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar is suffering from Diverticulitis again.
Bloody Elbow reports that Brock is not retiring and that he is debating having surgery, although he has no timetable for his return.
Fortunately, Shane Carwin is now being tapped to fight Junior Dos Santos, with reports indicating that the winner will still be getting the opportunity to fight Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight championship.
This is a big fight for Carwin to be taking on such short notice, but at 36 years old, even he realized he is running out of time. He shared his feelings on being chosen to replace Brock via his website.
“Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30-day notice, but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title. I know my coaches will have me ready, so I have everything to gain.”
Carwin is a very legitimate contender and a great choice as a late replacement, as he himself had Brock Lesnar bloodied up and nearly finished in their title bout at UFC 116.
The reality of the situation is, however, that he looked absolutely gassed entering the second round of that fight. Although Carwin has proven knockout power, the fact that his tank is already questionable, combined with a recent surgery and short training camp, is a recipe for disaster.
Unless he manages to finish Junior Dos Santos in the first round, which seems unlikely given the Brazilian’s great boxing, he is going to be in serious trouble.
This clearly was not what the UFC was hoping for, as the pay-per-view draw for a card without Brock Lesnar will be significantly less. But at least Velasquez will be given the opportunity to face a new opponent, no matter the outcome. The beating that Cain delivered to Brock the first time around isn’t anything we need to witness twice.
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