Velasquez out of UFC 180, Werdum fights Hunt for the Interim title

UFC 180, the first ever UFC event to be held in Mexico has been dealt a huge blow. UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, the country’s most beloved MMA son, has been injured and forced to pull out of his title fight with Fabricio Werdum. Australian Mark Hunt will replace Velasquez in a fight for the interim title. The news was first reported by Kevin Iole for Yahoo and confirmed by UFC.

Velasquez is a two time champion and has held the belt since beating Junior Dos Santos in late 2012. The AKA star student has defended his title twice since but has been on the shelf with with a series of hand injuries for over a year. It looks like it could be quite some time before he’s back to defend his belt with the #1 and #4 heavyweights respectively stepping in to fill the void.

Top ranked Fabricio Werdum has been in fine form lately. The Brazilian has won all four fights since returning to the UFC with impressive wins over Roy Nelson, Mike Russow, Rodrigo Noguiera and, most recently, Travis Browne.

Hunt has been similarly impressive of late winning five and drawing one of his last seven fights after starting his career with a 5-7 record. The Aussie has knockout wins over Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo and, most impressively, the iron-chinned Roy Nelson.

40 year-old Hunt and 37 year-old Werdum will be battling it out for the oldest UFC champion in a old-school striker vs. grappler match-up.