Fabricio Werdum pulls out of UFC 196 with injury MMAFighting.com reports that UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum also has pulled out of UFC 196 due to injury. The Brazillian was initially scheduled to face Cain Velasquez on Feb. 6, but the AKA product had to pull out due to a back injury. Werdum released the following statements to Brazillian journalists on Monday. “I was already injured, 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. I decided not to fight because I’m not 100 percent,” he continued. “If Cain was the opponent, I would go on. It’s not his fault, it’s nobody’s fault. Injuries happen. You can’t avoid them. I have no option. I made this decision because I’m not feeling 100 percent. I made this decision together with my team,” he said. “We decided not to fight. Cain can’t fight. I was going to hide the injury one more time, like I always did. I tried to hide it, but couldn’t this time. I can’t fight if I’m not 100 percent to put on a show like I always did. The Brazilian says he’s down to fighting in “two or three months”, and is open to facing Velasquez or Miocic. 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.” No word on what the UFC plans to do with the UFC 196 following the injury news. Matt Brown vs. Demian Maia set for UFC Fight Night 87 in Brazil UFC officials announced Monday that an intriguing welterweight match up between Matt Brown and Demian Maia has been added to May’s UFC Fight Night 87 card. Brown (20-13) is coming off an impressive first round submission victory over Tim Means at UFC 189. He was scheduled to take on Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 78, but had to pull out due to injury. This will be Browns first time competing in Brazil. Maia (22-6) has won four-straight fights including an impressive unanimous decision victory over Gunnar Nelson in his last bout at UFC 194 in December. UFC Fight Night 87 takes place on May 14 in Brazil, but it is unknown where in Brazil this fight will be taking place. 43 year old and 12-time UFC veteran Anthony Perosh announces retirement “The Hippo” is calling it quits. Perosh (15-10) made the announcement regarding his retirement on Team Perosh website TeamPeroshMMA.com.au, “I’m retiring from fighting in MMA. I’ve had a great career in MMA spanning 12 years, 25 fights, 15 wins & 5 wins in the UFC all by stoppage and 3 by Rear Naked Choke. I always went out for the win by stoppage and I am proud of what I have achieved in my career. I am 43 years old (young!) and I told myself I would retire if I either couldn’t keep up with the training, didn’t want it anymore or if I lost more than I won. The last fight camps were hard on me physically and mentally. I didn’t get the win and I knew straight after my last fight that I had had enough. I’m finishing with a UFC record of 5 wins and 4 losses in the Light Heavyweight division. On the bright side I am retiring with all my mental bearings and apart from the usual wear and tear I am physically fit! The next goal is focussing on my two MMA gyms with 650 students and MMA and BJJ competition teams. I am very proud of all of my students and can’t wait to put all of my time in to them and see them get better and succeed. I hope to be back in the UFC even more than before but this time walking behind my students who make it to the UFC as their coach and corner. I have learnt a lot in my time in the UFC. You need to surround yourself with good people such as coaches and training partners and avoid the naysayers and haters. Have a dream, train hard and believe in yourself and you will get what you want. The UFC have been nothing but good to me. Thank you to Dana White, Lorenzo Feritta, Joe Silva and Tom Wright for the opportunity to fight so many times for the biggest and best MMA organisation in the world. And a big thank you to Peter Kloczko and all of the support staff at the UFC who made my life a lot easier doing PR and all the paperwork! I want to thank Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn and the entire team from Jackson-Wink MMA gym in Albuquerque for taking me in and coaching and training me for my last 3 fights. You all made me feel very welcome and looked after my best interests all the time and really cared about seeing me improve. I am in your team for life! I want to thank all of my students and training partners from my MMA gym SPMA, my Australian coaches Steve Rudic, Shaun Sullivan and Denis Roberts. Extra big thanks to Steve Rudic for being my first striking coach and being in my corner in all 9 of my UFC Light Heavyweight fights. Thanks to my brother John for being my extra corner in my 3 international fights. Thanks to Paul Dallow for helping with my sponsors and all the UFC paperwork in my first 8 UFC fights and thanks to Reebok for their sponsorship in my last fight. Finally, I could not have done it without the unconditional and continuous support over the years of my family, friends and fans. You really make it easier to keep on doing what fighters do best which is fight! Thank you. See you all soon! Anthony Perosh “The Hippo” “ UFC Road to the Octagon: UFC on FOX 18 – Ryan Bader vs. Anthony Johnson UFC Road to the Octagon: UFC on FOX 18 – Josh Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell UFC Road to the Octagon: UFC on FOX 18 – Iuri Alcantara vs. Jimmie Rivera
MMA Odds and Ends for Tuesday: Werdum off UFC 196 due to injury, Brown vs. Maia set for UFC Fight Night 87
