UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (13-1) has withdrawn from next month’s title defence against Fabricio Werdum (18-5-1) at UFC 180 due to a knee injury.
Mark Hunt (10-8-1) steps into the breach and will fight Werdum for the interim heavyweight title in the pay-per-view event in Mexico on November 15th.
Velasquez is reported to have injured his right meniscus in training and the injury will keep him out of action for several months. This is the third serious injury that Velasquez has suffered while holding the heavyweight title having suffered a torn labrum tear against Junior dos Santos and a torn rotator cuff against Brock Lesnar.
Mark Hunt takes up the mantle on the back of a KO win over Roy Nelson and a Fight of the Night draw with Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva. Hunt previously lost a title eliminator fight with Junior dos Santos in 2013 but will be hoping for a different result against Werdum in November.
The latest injury to Velasquez brings the question to the surface again of whether or not the UFC can keep their big stars fit and uphold their scheduled bouts. The withdrawal of Velasquez comes on the back of the cancellation of Jon Jones v Daniel Cormier at UFC 178 last month due to a Jones injury.
