Fabricio Werdum has found himself being criticized quite a bit recently after withdrawing from his UFC 196 scrap with fill-in opponent Stipe Miocic. Miocic was offered the fight after Cain Velasquez withdrew from the bout due to a back injury. Shortly after Miocic accepted the fight however, Werdum withdrew from the bout with a back injury.

Following a brief scramble that saw Nate Diaz offer to fight Anthony Pettis in the main event, the UFC promoted the co-main event bout between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson to the main event, and made the event free on Fox Sports 1.

Earlier this week Werdum addressed his critics and revealed that he also had a broken foot ahead of the fight, however he planned to fight anyway until he injured his back.

While Werdum’s toughness may be under fire from critics, he revealed on The MMA Hour that he had a significant injury going into his UFC 188 scrap with Cain Velasquez where he won the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship.

“All the time I have a small injury or a bigger injury. The last one versus Cain Velasquez, I had a big injury in my head, in my balance, I had it. The last one. I didn’t spar for 40 days. Nobody knows this…[I almost] canceled the fight because I had a big injury in my head. Yes, [a] concussion, in my ear and my head. I didn’t spar for 40 days…I just sparred one week before the fight. This is OK.”