Brock Lesnar Out of UFC 131

Filed under: UFC, NewsIn a blockbuster announcement Thursday afternoon, UFC President Dana White revealed that Brock Lesnar is once again suffering from diverticulitis and will not be able to fight at UFC 131. Instead, the main event on that fight card…

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Brock Lesnar won't fight at UFC 131.In a blockbuster announcement Thursday afternoon, UFC President Dana White revealed that Brock Lesnar is once again suffering from diverticulitis and will not be able to fight at UFC 131. Instead, the main event on that fight card will be Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin.

“I want to thank the UFC, I want to thank Mr. White and I want to apologize to Junior dos Santos and Spike TV,” Lesnar said. “This is an unfortunate situation for me. I dodged a bullet about two years ago with diverticulitis, at that time not knowing what the problem was. … Diverticulitis is something that never goes away. It’s something I’ve dealt with since the first occurrence and I’ve been battling it.”

Brock Lesnar: How His Illness Has Affected His Career

Despite not performing at 100 percent, he was still performing at a high enough level to wear UFC gold.Brock Lesnar accomplished what very few accomplished in only their 5th professional fight in any combat sport—win a major championship.The closest …

Despite not performing at 100 percent, he was still performing at a high enough level to wear UFC gold.

Brock Lesnar accomplished what very few accomplished in only their 5th professional fight in any combat sport—win a major championship.

The closest that comes to mind was when Leon Spinks, in his 8th professional fight, defeated the great Muhammad Ali for boxing’s heavyweight title.

What makes Lesnar’s accomplishment even more impressive is that he won the title when he was not firing on all cylinders.

After his being diagnosed with diverticulitis following his bout against Frank Mir at UFC 100 for the heavyweight title, the doctors treating Lesnar stated that with his illness, his body was only functioning at around 70 to 80 percent. 

That is scary.

If Brock was able to do what he did while only performing at 80 percent of his natural physical ability, can you imagine what he would be capable of at 100 percent?

The only two losses in his career came against Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez.

In his loss to Mir, Lesnar was submitted with a knee bar. This was after he put a beating on Mir. Based on his follow-up performance against Heath Herring, it is safe to assume that he was healthy during that fight.

His loss against Velasquez came with the challenger to his title pounded his way to a TKO victory. The way Velasquez defeated Lesnar was not unlike the way Shane Carwin almost beat him.

The difference in the Velasquez fight was Brock did not display any sort of defense aside from putting his arms in front of his face. In the fight against Carwin, Lesnar did the same thing, only he utilized head movement to make a majority of Carwin’s punches miss their mark.

With this news breaking of his illness, one has to wonder if it had any affect on Lesnar’s performance against Velasquez. Everyone who saw that fight could notice there was something that just wasn’t right about Lesnar that night.

As this story develops, answers to these questions may come to light.

Brock Lesnar: News, Backstory and Analysis on the Embattled UFC Fighter

As it was reported on Thursday, Brock Lesnar was forced to pull out of his upcoming fight against Junior dos Santos due to another case of diverticulitis.The bout was to take place at UFC 131 in Vancouver to determine who would be the No. 1 contender t…

As it was reported on Thursday, Brock Lesnar was forced to pull out of his upcoming fight against Junior dos Santos due to another case of diverticulitis.

The bout was to take place at UFC 131 in Vancouver to determine who would be the No. 1 contender to heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez’s throne.

In the days and weeks to come, there will be more and more news to surface regarding this situation. As it is released, you can bet that it will be updated here.

There’s also no better time to take a look back at Brock’s short—yet accomplished—mixed martial arts career. How will this all affect his career moving forward? How will it affect the UFC moving forward?

While all these questions will be answered over time, we will take a look at what could happen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Facing More Important Fight, Brock Lesnar’s Cage Future Grows Uncertain

Filed under: StrikeforceTwo months shy of his 34th birthday, Brock Lesnar is forced to step away from mixed martial arts again. Since August 2009, he’s fought twice, had two bouts of diverticulitis and withdrawn from three scheduled matches, statistics…

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Two months shy of his 34th birthday, Brock Lesnar is forced to step away from mixed martial arts again. Since August 2009, he’s fought twice, had two bouts of diverticulitis and withdrawn from three scheduled matches, statistics he wishes he could erase from history. Though he once called himself the “baddest S.O.B.” on the planet, there might be more fear for Lesnar now than fear of him.

On Thursday, he announced that he would not be able to fight Junior dos Santos next month due to another diverticulitis flare-up, but at least he managed to put a confident bend on an otherwise disappointing scenario.

“I tell you one thing: I’m not retiring,” he said. “This isn’t the end of Brock Lesnar. It’s a speed bump in the road.”

He may be right. We should hope he is. When Lesnar is fighting, MMA seems to get a little more of the sports spotlight, a little more respect. But right now, his return timetable is a big question mark, largely because of the question marks facing his own care. Lesnar admitted that he is forced with the decision to either have surgery or simply deal with it the rest of his life. The former is no small procedure, involving invasive surgery and recovery time. The latter, as we have seen, can result in recurrences that take him out of action. Either way, there is no easy solution. Because of that, it is only human to wonder if Lesnar’s best athletic days are behind him.

Brock Lesnar and 15 Athletes Whose Careers Were Short Changed in Some Way

As reported by MMAFighting.com earlier today, Brock Lesnar has been forced out of his bout against Junior dos Santos at UFC 131.Lesnar has suffered a recurrence of diverticulits. This same illness caused Lesnar to be out of action for over a year follo…

As reported by MMAFighting.com earlier today, Brock Lesnar has been forced out of his bout against Junior dos Santos at UFC 131.

Lesnar has suffered a recurrence of diverticulits. This same illness caused Lesnar to be out of action for over a year following his bout against Frank Mir at UFC 100.

While everyone in the MMA community wishes Lesner a speedy recovery, he is the latest to be added to the list of athletes who have suffered injuries and illnesses that have shortened or ended their careers.

Although there are way too many to list here, I present to you 15 athletes whose careers were unfortunately short changed due to circumstances beyond their control.

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With Contender Fight Shake-Up, Lesnar’s Misfortune Could Be Carwin’s Gain

Filed under: UFCBy the time UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin got the news it was already well on its way to becoming the top story of the day: former UFC champion Brock Lesnar was forced out of his UFC 131 bout with Junior dos Santos due to a recurring cas…

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By the time UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin got the news it was already well on its way to becoming the top story of the day: former UFC champion Brock Lesnar was forced out of his UFC 131 bout with Junior dos Santos due to a recurring case of diverticulitis.

And as Carwin found out when he finished up his conditioning workout and started returning a slew of missed calls, that same number one contender fight was now his.

“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,” Carwin wrote on his blog Thursday afternoon. “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.”

Perhaps no one is more excited than head Grudge Training Center coach Trevor Wittman, who got the call from the UFC when Carwin was too busy working out to hear the good news, and who has spent the last few weeks dropping hints to Carwin that he should be prepared for just such an opportunity.