Fabricio Werdum Pulls Out Of Miocic Fight, UFC 196 Left Without Main Event

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It looks like UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum was only interested in proving that he is better than Cain Velasquez on February 6th.

After it became clear that Velasquez was out of the scheduled rematch with Werdum on 2/6, Werdum was informed that he would instead be defending his title against highly regarded contender Stipe Miocic.

Unfortunately for the UFC, that was apparently not a good enough replacement for the Brazilian champ.

Werdum announced on Monday afternoon that he was already dealing with an injury, and because Velasquez is out of the fight due to injury, he is going to pull out as well.

“I was already injured,” Werdum said. “I have a foot injury, and haven’t been able to throw kicks in training for two weeks. I would still fight Cain because I was injured the last time, but I also hurt my back last Friday. I went to the doctor, tried to continue training, but couldn’t spar as I should spar.

“I decided not to fight because I’m not 100 percent,” he continued. “If Cain was the opponent, I would go on. It’s not his fault, it’s nobody’s fault. Injuries happen. You can’t avoid them. I have no option. I made this decision because I’m not feeling 100 percent.”

Werdum says he’s “still confused” about everything that happened.

“I made this decision together with my team,” he said. “We decided not to fight. Cain can’t fight. I was going to hide the injury one more time, like I always did. I tried to hide it, but couldn’t this time. I can’t fight if I’m not 100 percent to put on a show like I always did.”

fabricio-werdum-3

It looks like UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum was only interested in proving that he is better than Cain Velasquez on February 6th.

After it became clear that Velasquez was out of the scheduled rematch with Werdum on 2/6, Werdum was informed that he would instead be defending his title against highly regarded contender Stipe Miocic.

Unfortunately for the UFC, that was apparently not a good enough replacement for the Brazilian champ.

Werdum announced on Monday afternoon that he was already dealing with an injury, and because Velasquez is out of the fight due to injury, he is going to pull out as well.

“I was already injured,” Werdum said. “I have a foot injury, and haven’t been able to throw kicks in training for two weeks. I would still fight Cain because I was injured the last time, but I also hurt my back last Friday. I went to the doctor, tried to continue training, but couldn’t spar as I should spar.

“I decided not to fight because I’m not 100 percent,” he continued. “If Cain was the opponent, I would go on. It’s not his fault, it’s nobody’s fault. Injuries happen. You can’t avoid them. I have no option. I made this decision because I’m not feeling 100 percent.”

Werdum says he’s “still confused” about everything that happened.

“I made this decision together with my team,” he said. “We decided not to fight. Cain can’t fight. I was going to hide the injury one more time, like I always did. I tried to hide it, but couldn’t this time. I can’t fight if I’m not 100 percent to put on a show like I always did.”