With Cain Out the Heavyweight Division is Wide Open

It’s been a little more than a few days since we first heard news that former heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, was pulling out of his rematch at UFC 196 with current champ, Fabricio Werdum citing, yet, another round of injuries. Werdum proceeded to dismantle the already crumpling pay-per-view card when he decided a fight with Stipe Miocic in under two weeks was not the right card to play, in addition to coming forward with injury claims of his own.

Now, UFC 196 has been demoted to UFC Fight Night 82 and UFC 197 featuring, Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos, has become UFC 196. Let’s just hope that moniker isn’t by some means, a curse. The fall of the now, originally slated, UFC 196 was a major blow to the UFC. Velasquez was in no way deserving of a rematch and the cancellation of his rematch with Werdum brought forth a breath of fresh air for many.

The UFC, however, must have felt a crushing pain. As the UFC continues to expand their reach in Mexico, there is no doubt, the brass was, or should I say is, hoping Cain would/will destroy Werdum and regain the title he foolishly lost at UFC 188. While, this turn of events has opened the heavyweight division floodgates, per se, I don’t expect much to change in the form of the original plan the UFC had in mind.

I suspect the men running the show are keeping an eye on both Velasquez and Werdum, hoping they can pair the two once again if their injury recovery lines up. Judging by the way the UFC conducts its business, you can agree, Velasquez vs. Werdum II is the preferred heavyweight title bout.

Will they get their wish? While, that is what the UFC wants, and that is what I believe Werdum wants, I don’t think Velasquez will recuperate in time. In fact, the heavyweight era of Velasquez is likely to be remembered more for its inactivity due to the Mexican-American’s injuries than his amazing feats while competing. Considering, Velasquez’s past with injuries and the fact his back is now injured, we possibly won’t see the former champ until sometime between late spring and early fall. And the title can’t be held up for that long and there is no need for an interim title.

The simple truth, whether the UFC likes it or not, is Werdum will likely fight someone other than Velasquez in his first title defense. Now, I can’t say with certainty, the extent of the champion’s injuries; but, I can say his decision to pull out of a short notice fight with Stipe Miocic was a sound decision.

Often times, we carry this notion that champions must defend their title against all comers at anytime, anyplace, short notice or not, etc. But that is further from the truth of the matter. I was upset Werdum pulled out of the fight with Miocic, but, like it or not, it was his right, injuries or not. Again, I don’t know how serious Werdum’s injuries are, but, I do believe Werdum preferred to fight Velasquez for his first title defense and it played a role in his decision to pull the cord on a short notice fight with Miocic.

Werdum is now among the greatest heavyweights to grace the sport in its short history. He defeated the undefeatable Fedor Emelianenko and the great cardio freak who was Cain Velasquez. Indeed, he has had a storied career to this point and he is not afraid to hold his ground against the top heavyweights. However, his defeat over Velasquez brought him more questions than praise. In short, he hasn’t been given the amount of credit he deserves and I feel he wants to answer his critics to some degree by beating Velasquez again.

The champion is an intelligent man. He knows a rematch with Velasquez is necessary and he knows the best time for that match is sooner rather than later at his age. But, with Velasquez’s injury rate, the actuality of the rematch happening while it means something becomes bleaker as time passes. It’s time to move on from the Velasquez era. Albeit, he may be back to form one day, his time is now on pause.

The UFC needs to jump Velasquez and insert Miocic back into the picture. Velasquez had no place in that picture to begin with. In other words, set up Werdum vs. Miocic for the title. Throw Velasquez to the winner of Josh Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell. And if the former champion still isn’t ready, give the winner of Barnett vs. Rothwell to the winner of Werdum vs. Miocic. Or, have the winner of Barnett vs. Rothwell challenge the free agent, Alistair Overeem to determine the next challenger after Miocic. The point I’m getting at is there are actually opinions at this moment in what can be considered the thinnest division in the UFC.

So, I beg to you, the men who run the show at the UFC headquarters, when the champ is ready to go, DO NOT book Werdum vs. Velasquez II. Let us move on while the iron is hot because Cain dropping out of another fight, or winning back the title only drop out of his next fight, is something we’ve all grown quite restless of.