Just days removed from having its upcoming May 28th main-event tilt between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard postponed due to both men being injured, the UFC has announced that Brock Lesnar will no longer face Junior dos Santos on June 11th. UFC President Dana White announced this afternoon that Lesnar is battling another round of diverticulitis, the stomach ailment that sidelined the former heavyweight champion in 2009.
“I want to thank the UFC and Mr. White, and I want to apologize to Junior dos Santos and Spike TV,” Lesnar was quoted saying in the official announcement. “This is an unfortunate situation for me. I dodged a bullet about two years ago with diverticulitis by not having the surgery. But diverticulitis is an illness that never goes away. It’s something that I’ve dealt with since my first occurrence and have been battling with it. I’ve been able to maintain it to a point where it’s tolerable, and I was able to go through two training camps. I’ve been dealing with some symptoms over the last three months, and during the course of this training camp, I felt another infection and got a CT scan done on my stomach, where there was visible inflation. It didn’t allow me to train to my full capabilities, and I was forced to make a decision to go back down to the doctor this week to figure out how far this thing was along. It’s not as serious as last time. It just didn’t allow me to train the way I needed to train for a number one contender’s bout. I am forced with the decision to either have surgery or to deal with this for the rest of my life. So I’m fighting a different fight here. It was a hard decision (to pull out of the fight), I’m choked up about it, but there’s nothing I can do.”
The Lesnar, dos Santos tilt was scheduled to take place following each man’s opposing coaching roles on the current season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” with the winner expected to face heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez later this year.
Stepping in to replace Lesnar will be contender Shane Carwin (12-1), who has not competed since he was submitted by Lesnar at UFC 116 last July, marking the first time the heavyweight was defeated.
Dos Santos (12-1) has not fought since last August, when he worked his way to a dominant, unanimous decision win over Roy Nelson.
UFC 131 will take place in Vancouver, B.C., and will be hosted by the city’s Rogers Centre.
