After a veritable media windfall erupted when Cain Velasquez pulled out of his scheduled main event title bout against Fabricio Werdum at February 6’s UFC 196, the promotion has decided they could not save the pay-per-view (PPV) event and has been forced to air it live on FOX Sports 1 instead.
Werdum was originally slated to face late replacement Stipe Miocic in the event’s headliner, but pulled out yesterday one day after the announcement, citing both back and foot injuries as a reason. But ‘Vai Cavalo’ curiously said he would have fought if it were Velasquez across the Octagon, which evoked a doubtful response from many.
MMA fans hoping out hope that a deal could be somehow brokered for former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to face Miocic for the heavyweight title will have to quell their expectations, as the decent but not headliner-worthy welterweight bout between former champion Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson will now serve as the depleted event’s featured bout.
Other options included former champ Josh Barnett willing to step in and face Miocic for the interim title, but ultimately not one heavyweight bout could be made for the depleted and stagnating division to save the card’s PPV status.
With the announcement, here is the card’s full lineup as of now:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET):
Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson
Roy Nelson vs. Jared Rosholt
Rafael Cavalcante vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET):
Josh Burkman vs. K.J. Noons
Damian Grabowski vs. Derrick Lewis
Mike Pyle vs. Sean Spencer
Misha Cirkunov vs. Alex Nicholson
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET):
Mickey Gall vs. Mike Jackson
Artem Lobov vs. Alex White
Ray Borg vs. Justin Scoggins
Noad Lahat vs. Diego Rivas
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