Another Huge Loss For UFC 196 Pay-Per-View, Title Fight Pulled

As if Cain Velasquez pulling from February's UFC 196 PPV wasn't bad enough for the company, the UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum has also backed out of his replacement fight against Stipe Miocic.

Werdum pulled out of the bout Monday, just one day after the company had announced Miocic as his replacement opponent. Werdum spoke to the media (transcript courtesy of MMAFighting).

"I was already injured," Werdum said. "I have a foot injury, and haven't been able to throw kicks in training for two weeks. I would still fight Cain because I was injured the last time, but I also hurt my back last Friday. I went to the doctor, tried to continue training, but couldn't spar as I should spar."

See Also: Big UFC Title Fight Is Off Due To Injury, Replacement Named

Werdum said that he wasn't willing to throw everything away because he was injured. The UFC title has been plagued with injuries throughout it's history, as they've had to institute an interim title four times.

"It took me a long time to get here and win this belt, be the champion, to throw everything away because I'm not 100 percent," Werdum said. "I have to think about everything now, I can't think and act like I did when I was 20. It's not like that anymore. Everything changed. I'm 38 now and I feel I'm at the best moment of my career, and I can't risk my career because of pride."

It's worth noting that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett has said that he would take a fight against Stipe Miocic on the show. He's currently slated to face Ben Rothwell next weekend at UFC on Fox. The UFC has not announced a replacement fight as of yet.