Stipe Miocic was recently named as the new opponent of Fabricio Werdum for the UFC heavyweight title, but all that went kaput when Werdum also withdrew due to an alleged injury.

The original tiff was supposed to be a rematch between the reigning champion Werdum and Cain Velasquez for UFC 196 which takes place next month.

Velasquez was the first to pull out due to a back injury. He made the announcement via Facebook, forcing the UFC to replace him with Stipe Miocic.

I'm sure you've heard the news that I won't be able to fight at UFC 196. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am...

Posted by Cain Velasquez on Sunday, January 24, 2016

“My fans deserve to see me compete as close to 100% as possible. I'm committed to giving them that. I'm not going to let my fans down, and I want to make sure I do the right things to ensure a long career,” part of the post read.

Not long after, Werdum comes out to withdraw as well. He indicates a foot injury as the reason behind his withdrawal, and such has hindered him from throwing kicks during training.

Aside from that, the champ also reveals that he hurt his back last Friday. In short, he was not at 100%, and thus decided to withdraw, per reports from MMAFighting.com.

In the eyes of Miocic’s manager Greg Kalkkas, the recent events seem to be coincidental. However, he did not hide the fact that Werdum may have opted to withdraw against Miocic because he didn’t like the matchup.

“If you’re the champion and you’re healthy enough to fight, and you refuse to fight because you don’t like the matchup against any specific opponent, you should be stripped,” Kalikas says via MMAjunkie.

The disappointment on the part of Miocic’s side is understandable. The Croatian mixed martial artist and his camp were celebrating the recent move up until Werdum’s sudden withdrawal.

As it stands now, Kalikas and Miocic are kept hanging on what the UFC will do next. A lot may rest on the real severity of Werdum’s injury.

However, in the eyes of Kalikas, he stands firm that it was all about Werdum wanting to preserve his strength more against Velasquez than Miocic. In fact, he cites a previous instance to back up his claim.

“We’ve thought that for a long time now. We tried to get the Werdum fight a few years ago, and he didn’t want any part of him then, and apparently doesn’t want any part of him now.”

Recall that earlier this month, Miocic made it clear that he wanted a title shot to UFC president Dana White no less.

That came moments after he knocked out Andrei Arlovski at the 54-second mark of the opening round at UFC 195.

"I want my shot! Give me the shot!" Miocic yelled towards the direction of White via Fox Sports. "I'm fired up, I'm ready to go. I'm pumped."

It didn’t take that much for White to decide on the Croatian’s request.

"Who the hell was going to say no to him? He was like a psycho. I wasn't going to say no. We are on the same page, Stipe," says White via MMAMania.com.

Apparently, that time was supposed to be now until Werdum backed out. How about an interim champion fight? Kalikas hinted that Miocic may not be happy settling for that.