Former #1 heavyweight contender Shane Carwin (12-1) had been set to face “TUF 10″ season winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson on New Year’s day in the co-main event of UFC 125, but has now pulled himself out of that fight.
Carwin posted the notice on his blog site, Shane-Carwin.com earlier today, stating that he may require surgery for his back which could put him out indefinitely.
I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson. As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action.
I was really looking forward to fighting again and obviously this is a very disappointing turn of events. My manager said “You can’t fight the best fighters in the world with just heart, it is time to stop limping to the top of the mountain and get healthy so you can climb it on your terms.” I have been up all night thinking about this decision and what I may be missing by making it.
In the end my family and manager are right. I owe myself, I owe my fans the best show I can give them. I need to get healthy. I am going to be speaking with the surgeon this week about the surgery. My thoughts are if the surgery fixes it why add 8-12 weeks of physical therapy, epidurals and traction if surgery may still be needed.
The good news is the doctors said I can work on my cardio (they must have seen my last fight lol) with this injury.
No response from the UFC as of yet whether Nelson would be given a new opponent or if the fighter would just be replaced.