MMA Thread

grumblethorn said:

wonder what the issue is this time.

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Earlier this week, Velasquez, 34, told ESPN.com he had suffered from back pain during training camp and was already scheduled to undergo surgery on Jan. 4. The San Jose-based heavyweight said he had relied on Cannabidiol (CBD) to dull the pain enough to train.

"It's an achy pain that goes down your leg, and it gets to a point where if you're standing for 10 minutes, you have to sit down," Velasquez told ESPN.com. "If you're going out for a while, a half-hour, you know it's going to be pretty painful. You have to sit down and take the compression off your back."

Despite those revelations, both Velasquez and his longtime coach Javier Mendez insisted the fighter would be fine to face Werdum. The fight was supposed to be a rematch of a heavyweight title fight that took place in June 2015.

"As far as preparation, I've done everything," Velasquez said. "I've sparred, wrestled. I'm not missing workouts at all. I've done my conditioning -- everything. I feel great going into this."

According to sources, the NSAC still canceled the bout for fighter safety due to Velasquez's comments regarding the injury.

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