Velasquez out, Hunt in vs. Werdum for interim title at UFC 180
Tonight the rumor was confirmed and it was announced that Mark Hunt would replace Velasquez and fight Werdum for the interim heavyweight title.
On Tuesday Gabriel Morency broke the news that Cain Velasquez was injured and out of his UFC 180 main event title defense versus Fabricio Werdum. It was confirmed by the UFC when the league announced that Mark Hunt would replace Velasquez and fight Werdum for the interim heavyweight title:
Mexico City, Mexico – The UFC® announced today that UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez suffered a right knee injury during training and was forced to withdraw from his championship fight against No.1 contender Fabricio Werdum in Mexico City on November 15.
As a result, No.4 heavyweight Mark Hunt (10-8-1 in professional MMA, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand), who is coming off a walk-away knockout against the iron-chinned Roy Nelson in Tokyo in September, will face Werdum (18-5-1, fighting out of Los Angeles via Porto Alegre, Brazil) in the five-round main event for the interim UFC heavyweight title.
I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened, Velasquez said. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.
