As reported on Tuesday evening, UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez suffered an injury and pulled out of UFC 180. As a result, UFC announced an interim title fight between Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt as the new main event for the show in Mexico City.
Velasquez had been training for the Werdum fight with a slightly torn meniscus in his right knee, and was planning on going ahead with the fight despite the injury, however when he sprained his MCL in the same knee during training, he had no choice but to pull out of the fight.
Velasquez’s coach at the American Kickboxing Academy, Javier Mendez, says Velasquez had been dealing with the torn meniscus for a while now, but when he suffered the MCL sprain while drilling his takedown defense late last week, he had no other option but to pull out of the bout.
The UFC Heavyweight Champion is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right knee this Thursday in San Jose, California, an operation that will repair the torn meniscus, while rehab will be needed for the sprained MCL.
UFC officials stated that depending on his recovery, Velasquez should be able to return to action by March.
UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt takes place on Saturday, November 15, 2014 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico. Make sure to join us here at MMANews.com for live results coverage of the event.
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