(Lesnar was emphatic that this would not be a career-ending malady.)
The UFC held an impromptu conference call today to announce that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has been force to pull out of his upcoming UFC 131 bout in Vancouver next month against Junior dos Santos due to a recent flare-up of diverticulitis that has left the North Dakota native physically unable to train for the bout.
Hear the audio from the call HERE.
An obviously disappointed Lesnar, who spent 14 hours at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN yesterday undergoing a battery of tests, explained that he tried to work through the exhaustion and the pain of the malady, but it was simply too much to deal with while preparing for such an important bout. Both Lesnar and UFC president Dana White echoed the same sentiment that the fight is of secondary importance to Brock’s health and wellbeing, revealing that his symptoms began resurfacing three weeks ago.
Stepping in for Lesnar, who called the development, “a speed bump on the road,” will be fellow heavyweight contender Shane Carwin who was slated to face John Olav Einemo on the card. Acording to White, a replacement for Einemo has not been decided.
Carwin blogged about the news a short time ago.
“I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva. I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar’s spot for 131. 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,” Carwin wrote. “I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain. My manager said “This is where you belong” and I am going to make sure I do everything I can to prove him right. Please help make UFC 131 one of the biggest cards in the year.I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day.”
We will have the audio from the call when it concludes and we have the chance to upload it.