Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has suffered a recurrence of diverticulitis and has pulled out of his June 11 fight with Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 in Vancouver.
Lesnar announced Thursday dealing with the disease has hampered his training, forcing him to pull out of the mixed martial arts bout.
“When you have a 12-week training camp and I’m not able to be where I should be, it’s not a very smart decision to step into the Octagon on June 11,” Lesnar said during a conference call. “I’m no where I need to be for a No. 1 contenders fight. I’ve got more doctor appointments to follow up with. I’m looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Lesnar, 33, was first diagnosed with diverticulitis in 2009 and managed the disease through diet and medication. He fought twice in 2010 successfully defending his title against Shane Carwin before losing it to Cain Velasquez last October. But Lesnar said the recurrence of an abdominal infection became too much to endure during his current training camp. He said he’s still contemplating whether to have surgery or continue to treat it with medication as he has in the past.
“There’s a solution to every problem,” Lesnar said. “I just have to find a right solution to fix this problem. This isn’t the end of Brock Lesnar. This is a speed bump in the road.”
Dos Santos (12-1) will now fight Carwin (12-1) in the main event.
“I wanted more than anything to win this fight and get a shot at (Cain) Velasquez,” said Lesnar (5-2). “But my health and my family are more important.”