Troubling news just keeps rolling in for UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
First, he found out he needed knee surgery that’d keep him out of UFC 180 in Mexico, then the UFC said it’d name an interim champion while he recovered, and now he’s found out that he’ll be stripped of his title entirely if he doesn’t compete by March.
Dana White told “The Download” that if Cain was to suffer any setbacks in his recovery he’d have to give up his title.
“We’re headed in that direction now. This next fight in Mexico is for the interim title. So if Cain couldn’t compete again, the winner of this fight would be seen as the champion.”
It may seem as though they are kicking a man while he’s down but Cain’s inactivity has put them in a tough spot. They built a PPV around his return, UFC 180, only to see him hurt again. There’s only so long the UFC will wait for a man to get healthy, especially when Jon Jones has talked about wanting to move up to heavyweight eventually.