UFC 196: Werdum vs. Velasquez Headliner Disintegrates In One Day

This past weekend saw a devastating shocker in the world of professional sports. No, it wasn’t the Denver Broncos’ upset of the New England Patriots on Sunday but rather the MMA news that broke that same afternoon. UFC 196 main event player and 2-time UFC heavyweight champion, “Cardio” Cain Velasquez (13-2) suffered a back injury that unfortunately sidelined him from the much anticipated rematch against current belt holder, Fabricio Werdum (20-6). A high stakes “part two” of their ongoing rivalry which has now spanned the globe a year and a half since its inception in November of 2014 when they were scheduled to headline the first ever UFC card in Mexico.

Photo by Armando Romo

Velasquez suffered a devastating knee injury in camp leading up to that bout which removed him from his Mexico City debut at UFC 180 prompting the UFC to call upon late replacement, Mark Hunt. Werdum defeated Hunt via 2nd round KO thanks to a flying knee and follow up strikes capturing the Interim UFC Heavyweight strap that night.

The match was then rescheduled between UFC champion, Velasquez and now UFC Interim champ, Fabricio Werdum as a unification bout for UFC 188 in Mexico City, Mexico this past June. Werdum again won his UFC title match via finish, this time being the first man to submit Velasquez in the form of a 3rd round guillotine choke. The move not only garnered Werdum much attention for its slick execution but sent a shockwave throughout the MMA world since he was a 5-1 underdog that night.

The much-anticipated rematch was set for UFC 196 on February 6th 2016 in Las Vegas during Super Bowl 50 weekend. But, not only is Velasquez officially scrapped from the card because of injury, it appears that Fabricio Werdum is also out of the show due to his own injury in camp.

Photo by Armando Romo

This was only disclosed today, Monday, less than 24 hours following the UFC’s statement on its website and social media that the new UFC 196 bout would feature Werdum vs. Miocic for the belt. Ohio’s own, Stipe Miocic (14-2), became the #1 contender following his 54-second TKO destruction of former UFC champ, Andrei Arlovsky at UFC 195 last month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Werdum went on to disclose that he had his own injuries in camp involving his back and foot and that he would have moved forward with a proposed match with Cain but, if Velasquez was opting to side step due to physical ailment, the Brazilian title holder would do the same.

As this goes to print no word has come officially of Werdum’s replacement if any, who Stipe Miocic will face now that he got the call to step in, or if there will even be a heavyweight title fight at the UFC 196 PPV next month.