Serious? What happened to “minor?”
Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title contender, Alexander Gustafsson, came under heavy fire from both fans and fellow fighters when he withdrew from the UFC 227 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last weekend in Los Angeles, California.
That’s because “The Mauler” was apparently all-systems-go right up until the point when opponent Volkan Oezdemire bowed out with his own injury, before suddenly announcing that he too was injured and unable to compete.
But it seems Gustafsson was apparently downplaying the seriousness of his condition.
“It wasn’t a minor injury,” UFC President Dana White said (via MMA Fighting). “He had a serious injury to his hamstring. He doesn’t have to do surgery, he’s doing physical therapy, and we’re then hoping he can come back before the end of the year. He was hurt, legitimate injury, and he’s working on it.”
I guess Oezdemir was the combatant with the “minor injury” as “No Time” has already been rebooked to compete against surging light heavyweight contender, Anthony Smith, who was hoping to step up on short notice to dance with Gustafsson at UFC 227.
Oezdemire vs. Smith takes place at UFC Moncton this October (details) and since the division strap is on hold until 2019 (because of this nonsense), the winner may end up facing “The Mauler” anyway.