Injuries play a part in any sport, but it was hard to hear the news on Friday that one of the most-anticipated fights of the summer would no longer happen, as, according to Dana White, Anthony Pettis suffered a knee injury in training, forcing him out of his scheduled bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 163.
Pettis has been preparing for the bout for several months and just recently made his first attempt at cutting down to featherweight for the fight with Aldo.
Now, the Milwaukee-based fighter will have to sit on the sidelines while “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung gets the title fight against Aldo instead.
Just after the news was released by the UFC that Pettis was injured, the fighter took to his Twitter page to update his condition and explain what happened to keep him out of the fight. According to Pettis, he suffered a small tear in his meniscus, which likely won’t require any kind of surgery that would put him on the shelf for any long period of time.
Most small tears of the meniscus are treated with rest and staying off of the injured knee for two to three weeks.
Pettis‘ manager, Mike Roberts, told Bleacher Report on Friday that he’s not expected to be out for any extended period of time, but given that he would have to be off for several weeks from training, there was no way to take the fight August 3 against Aldo.
Pettis was dropping down to featherweight specifically for the chance to face Aldo at UFC 163 in August. Prior to this fight, he’d spent his entire career at 155 pounds, where he was the WEC lightweight champion. He also picked up a win over current UFC titleholder Benson Henderson.
According to Roberts, the decision about what weight class Pettis‘ next fight will take place remains undecided. With Aldo now locked up for the UFC 163 fight against Jung, it’s likely that Pettis would have to sit even longer to get a shot at the featherweight belt.
Meanwhile, the UFC lightweight title will be up for grabs on August 28 when Henderson faces T.J. Grant in the main event of UFC 164 in Milwaukee. If Henderson wins, it could set up a huge rematch with Pettis before the close of 2013.
For now, however, Pettis remains sitting dejected on the sidelines, dealing with an injured knee while contemplating what could have been.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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