Late on Sunday night, news broke that Cain Velasquez had pulled out of his UFC 196 title fight with Fabricio Werdum on February 6th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
On less than two weeks' notice, Stipe Miocic agreed to take the heavyweight title fight.
According to MMAFighting.com, Fabricio Werdum, the current heavyweight champion, has also pulled out of the event due to an injury.
Given how quickly Werdum's injury has come on the back of Velasquez's, it is extremely suspicious and would make you think he has had second thoughts about giving Miocic a title shot at such short notice.
The co-main event for UFC 196 is currently Johny Hendricks vs Stephen Thompson.
According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Ben Rothwell is willing to step in and take on Miocic.
I happened to be on phone with Ben Rothwell when Werdum news came out. Says he's down for Stipe but guesses he won't be pulled from Barnett.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 25, 2016
Rothwell and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight each other in Dublin back in October. However, Miocic was forced to pull out due to injury.
