UPDATED: White Says Lesnar to require 'major surgery'

UFC President Dana White told TMZ.com that heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will require "major surgery."

White told the Web site Lesnar is "very, very sick" with an intestinal disorder. White says Lesnar collapsed while resting in Canada last Monday and went to a medical facility in North Dakota, where White is trying to get him transferred to the world-renowed Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

White also told TMZ that Lesnar's current condition isn't the mono he was diagnosed with last week but would not specify what the exact condition is, only ruling out cancer and HIV.

And like he's been saying elsewhere, White confirmed Lesnar might never fight again.

[Note by Kelvin Hunt, 11/16/09 10:10 PM EST ]From WCCO.com(local news station in the Minneapolis area)

A source told WCCO that Lesnar has a severe case of diverticulitis, a disease where small pouches form in the digestive system.

I had heard of diverticulitis before, but I've never really known anyone to actually have it. So I did some quick researching at mayoclinic.com:

Diverticulitis occurs when one or more diverticula in your digestive tract become inflamed or infected. Diverticula are small, bulging pouches that can form anywhere in your digestive system, including your esophagus, stomach and small intestine. However, they're most commonly found in the large intestine.

Diverticula are common, especially after age 40. When you have diverticula, the condition is known as diverticulosis. You may never even know you have these pouches because they seldom cause any problems, such as diverticulitis.

Sometimes, however, diverticulitis occurs, causing severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and a marked change in your bowel habits. Mild cases of diverticulitis can be treated with rest, changes in your diet and antibiotics. But serious cases of diverticulitis may require surgery.

Here are the causes of diverticulitis(taken from same source above):

Diverticula usually develop when naturally weak places in your colon give way under pressure. This causes marble-sized pouches to protrude through the colon wall.

Exactly how diverticula become inflamed or infected isn't clear. One theory is that the increased pressure in the colon can lead to breakdown of the wall of the diverticula leading to infection. Another is that the narrow openings of diverticula may trap fecal matter, which can lead to infection. Or, an obstruction in the narrow opening of a diverticulum may reduce blood supply to the area, which leads to inflammation.

In the past, doctors thought that nuts, seeds, popcorn and corn played a role in causing diverticulitis by getting trapped in the diverticula. However, recent research has found that these foods weren't associated with an increased risk of diverticulitis.

Of course none of this has been confirmed yet by Dana White, the UFC, or anyone from Lesnar's camp.  It does fit the 'major surgery' category that was used earlier in Matt's piece.  However, I wonder if Lesnar training while he had mono triggered an existing weak place in his colon to give away under pressure?

HT: Fightopinion