The Ultimate Fighter 18 finale featured just 10 fights, but of the 20 people that competed, a good percentage of them will be on the shelf for a while.
The UFC released the medical suspensions today, with fighters such as Akira Corassani, Drew Dober and Ryan Benoit grabbing the lengthiest of suspensions. For a smaller-than-usual card, there were definitely a decent share of casualties.
The most high-profile of the suspensions comes to Corassani, whose fight was stopped due to an illegal knee from opponent Maximo Blanco. That knee broke Corassani‘s nose in five different places, showing the pure violence and destruction that fight-stopping knee caused.
Dober and Benoit also came out of the card wounded and with possible fractures. Benoit appears to have injured (fractured or broken) his hand, while Dober likely has a fractured orbital from the one-sided beating he took from Sean Spencer.
Another possible lengthy suspension could come for Julianna Pena, the first-ever women’s winner of the long-running reality show. She has to have one of her thumbs x-rayed for possible damage before she is cleared to return to training.
That thumb injury came on the heels of a one-side drubbing of Jessica Rakoczy. The fight saw Pena ground the former champion boxer, pound her into oblivion and claim the TUF 18 women’s title.
Plus, any fighter who was either stopped by strikes or competed in a rough bout got the normal suspension length that could be anywhere from a couple weeks to a month.
Here are the full medical suspensions from the card:
- Gray Maynard: suspended until January 30, 2014, with no contact prior to January 15, 2014.
- Jessica Rakoczy: suspended until January 15, 2014, with no contact prior to December 31, 2013.
- Julianna Pena: must have her right thumb x-rayed; if positive, must be cleared by orthopedic doctor.
- David Grant: suspended until January 15, 2014, with no contact prior to December 31, 2013.
- Peggy Morgan: suspended until January 15, 2014, with no contact prior to December 31, 2013.
- Akira Corassani: suspended until May 30, 2014, unless nasal fracture is cleared by doctor. He is suspended at least until January 30, 2014 with no contact prior to January 15, 2014.
- Drew Dober: suspended until May 30, 2014, and must have orbital fractures cleared by doctor. He is suspended at least until January 30, 2014 with no contact prior to January 15, 2014.
- Ryan Benoit: must have left hand x-rayed. If positive, he must be cleared by doctor or he is suspended until May 30, 2014. If there are no fractures, he is suspended until December 31, 2013 with no contact until December 22, 2013.
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