Cain Velasquez Needs Surgery, Sidelined for Another Month

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez pulled out of his rematch with Fabricio Werdum for the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 196 with a back injury. Once this happened, things really started to fall apart for the promotion as they booked Stipe Miocic vs. Werdum at the event, but then Werdum pulled out of the fight the next day. The UFC was forced to rename the show and pull it from pay-per-view to FOX Sports 1. UFC 197 is now being called UFC 196 after the original UFC 196 was changed to UFC Fight Night 82.

UFC President Dana White recently appeared on Sirus XM’s “Opie with Jim Norton” radio show and revealed that Velasquez will undergo back surgery following his most recent injury. The surgery is to fix bulging discs in his back. The former champion will be out action for four weeks at least.

“Cain has got problems with a disc in his back, and he’s actually going to have surgery,” White said. “The good part is it’s not going to be long. He’s going to have the surgery and will probably need four weeks to recover. So that’s good news.”

The UFC has a few options here. One, they could book the rematch between Velasquez and Werdum for an upcoming PPV event or they could book Werdum vs. Miocic for the title then have the winner of that bout fight Velasquez.

Either way, for the first time in a long time the UFC has options in the heavyweight division, which is good for the promotion and fight fans. What should the UFC do? Let us know.