Like the Hope Diamond and James Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder, the UFC's heavyweight championship belt is a cursed object, bringing only misery to those who come in contact with it. Winning the title has resulted in immediate misfortune for Frank Mir (career-threatening motorcycle accident), Josh Barnett (steroid bust), Tim Sylvia (another steroid bust), Bas Rutten (training injuries leading to a seven-year retirement), Randy Couture (two separate contract disputes that caused him to leave the organization), and Brock Lesnar. No heavyweight in the UFC's history has ever been able to defend the belt more than twice consecutively, and the title has been defended an average of just 1.25 times per year for the last four years.
The Curse of the Belt struck again, right on schedule, when Cain Velasquez suffered a shoulder injury just two months after taking the belt off of Lesnar, and won't be back in action for 6-8 months. If you ask us, Junior Dos Santos dodged a bullet, since he won't have to go near that hoodoo-ridden talisman until late next year. But despite all the bad omens, JDS is pissed that his title shot has been delayed, and blames Velasquez himself. Here's what Cigano had to say in a recent interview with portal Vale Tudo:
"I'm really outraged. How does a person leaves a fight versus Brock Lesnar in perfect physical condition and then get hurt without being in training? The last news I heard about Velasquez, he was riding in Mexico. How did he get injured?" he questioned.
"I'm in the best moment of my career, training heavily and working hard to put on the fight of my life, and all of a sudden, this is postponed for eight months. That's unfair.
“I'm five months without fighting, fighting is my life, not just because I love doing it, but also because I need to fight for a living. I don't make as much money as the top fighters, so I really need to work" said Cigano who expects Dana White to put him to dispute an interim belt.
"Of course it would be fantastic to face Velasquez at 'UFC Rio', in August, but I can't keep myself one year away from the Octagon only waiting for his recovering… so I do think what would be most fair, would be Dana gives me the opportunity to fight for an interim belt".
Whether or not you think the creation of an interim title is warranted in this situation — I personally don't, and I have a feeling Dana White won't go for it either — Dos Santos deserves to get a replacement fight so he can make a living and stave off ring rust. Shane Carwin is probably the best option, since he competed for the title in his last fight, he hasn't been beat up by Dos Santos yet, and he may return from his back surgery layoff as early as this spring.
Frank Mir's another option, though he might already have plans. Outside of that, there ain't much talent left at the top of the division, other than Brock Lesnar (who probably wouldn't accept the fight) and a bunch of guys who JDS has already run through, namely Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve. We hope it works out for Junior, though no matter what happens before he gets his much-deserved crack at Velasquez's title, he should cherish these non-cursed months while he has them.
-Cage Potato
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