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Velasquez happy for UFC to create interim title

Cain Velasquez will have surgery © Getty Images

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Cain Velasquez insists he will not have any problem with the UFC if it creates an interim heavyweight title during his absence.

Velasquez became the new heavyweight champion at UFC 121, beating Brock Lesnar by TKO to start what many experts expect to be a new era in the land of the giants.

However, Velasquez discovered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and, after lengthy attempts to solve the problem in physiotherapy, the Mexican-American eventually took the decision to have surgery. As a result, he could be out of action for eight months.

Velasquez had been set to take on Junior Dos Santos in his first title defence, and the UFC is yet to confirm whether it will wait for his comeback to make that fight happen. A similar decision was taken on Rashad Evans, who has waited 10 months to get a crack at the injured Mauricio Shogun Rua.

Dos Santos could agree to a dangerous fight in order to keep himself active in Velasquez's absence, with Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir possible opponents, and Velasquez admitted he would not blame the UFC for encouraging such a bout.

"They need to keep the fights going. They can't wait around half a year for fights," Velasquez stated on MMA Weekly. "It doesn't offend me at all. When I'm ready, I'll come back and fight."

Velasquez insists he will not be a champion who fights once a year when he returns, revealing he did everything possible to avoid surgery.

"I definitely want to be as active as I can. It's hard, but it's part of the territory. People get hurt all the time," he said. We tried to rehab it first for six weeks. Then, finally, when the six weeks was up, we did another MRI. The muscle was still torn, so they said we have to do the surgery."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.