Dana White announced during a last minute teleconference today that Brock Lesnar is out of UFC 131 due to another bout with diverticulitis. Despite needing to pull out of this fight to deal with this illness, Lesnar, who was on the call stated that he’s not retiring.
As a result, Shane Carwin has been bumped up to the main event to fight Junior dos Santos in what may still be a #1 contender’s match.
Lesnar was candid in speaking with the media about his ailment. He indicated that his options were surgery or dealing with the ailment. He stated that he had more tests and doctor visits to go through before he would make a decision.
Lesnar described diverticulitis as an “illness that does not go away.” He needs antibiotics to fight the infection. During the course of the training camp for dos Santos, Lesnar felt another infection coming on and went to the doctors. The issue didn’t allow him to train to the fullest of his capabilities.
Lesnar stated that he was at the Mayo Clinic for 14 hours yesterday to figure out what he should do.
Payout Perspective:
This puts a damper on UFC 131. While Carwin is a capable fighter, he will be coming off a long layoff. Also, Lesnar is a PPV king for the UFC. Its unlikely that UFC 131 will garner as many buys as it would have with Lesnar at the top. While Lesnar stated that he will not retire, it has to be concerning for Lesnar and the UFC. It sounds like Lesnar may be out for a prolonged period of time and this would be unfortunate for all.
“Its unlikely that UFC 131 will garner as many buys as it would have with Lesnar at the top.”
Unlike most things in life, it is not only unlikely, it is an absolute certainty. Really too bad for Lesnar, hope he recovers as he is good for the sport. Man, this is starting to resemble the injury glut of ’09. First UFC130, now 131. I doubt Carwin could possibly be ready for Dos Santos after almost a year off, but he is probably the best option. Hope this doesn’t hurt the TUF 13 ratings.
Though I have to admit I’s rather see Dos Santos or Carwin fight Velasquez than Lesnar.
FYI:
With all the injuries and now the uncertainty of Brock fighting again this year (or ever) for the UFC, it will greatly impact their PPV Buy rate for the year.
The UFC has increased their PPV buys every year for the past 4 yrs. It’s looking like that streak will be snapped this year unless they do some monster numbers towards the end of the year.
UFC 136 with Cain vs JDS/Carwin will probably do well for them, UFC 134 should do okay as well. Not many big draws are currently lined up as headliners though.
With all these injuries and I know its probably a coincidence but will fighters be more leery to fight if they are not perfectly healthy once the insurance program takes effect June 1st? I know Dana wont be happy If he sees fighters back out of fights.
Ron Rio:
That is a very good concern to have going forward. Most of the time, these fighters fought through injuries because they needed the money to pay for surgeries, treatment, etc.
It will be interesting to see if the UFC continues to announce fight cards well ahead of time and how drastically they will change until the day of the event.