At UFC 196, Fabricio Werdum was expected to defend his heavyweight championship against Cain Velasquez. It was a rematch of their title unification bout at UFC 188, which Werdum won.
But UFC president Dana White announced that Velasquez is out with a back injury and won’t be able to compete two weeks out from the event. That leaves Stipe Miocic to step in on two weeks notice for the biggest prize in the sport.
Cain Velasquez is out with a back injury. Stipe vs Werdum for the heavyweight championship February 6th. pic.twitter.com/vPRJYJvOjL
— Dana White (@danawhite) January 24, 2016
Velasquez released a statement on the injury on his Facebook page, including an apology to Fabricio Werdum.