The fights are in the books, and all that remains is to see how quickly the athletes from the UFC’s latest Fight Night on Ottawa, Ontario, Canada can get back in the cage.
The UFC’s latest Fight Night card in Ottawa – headlined by a lightweight top contenders’ bout between Al Iaquinta and Donald Cerrone – wasn’t exactly a thriller from top to bottom. The main event delivered a fantastic 5 rounds of action, and a couple other fighters picked up strong, meaningful wins, but for every fight that thrilled there seemed to be two that just didn’t. Still, if there’s a silver lining to be had, it’s that it appears most of the athletes involved won’t be sidelined for long.
The only fighter to walk away from the event with a serious medical suspension was Al Iaquinta, who picked up 180 days. No other fighter got more than 60, with most only getting 14. MMA Junkie has the complete list of medical suspensions, and reports that – while the commission did not indicate such – Al Iaquinta says he “can be cleared,” to return before the suspension is up, and that he “would have remembered” if he had been told that wasn’t the case.
However, in a followup communication with Junkie’s Steven Marrocco, it sounds more like Iaquinta may be on the sidelines for quite some time. Either that, or there’s some bureaucratic confusion at work.
“The OAC’s top priority in regulating professional combative sports events is to protect the health and safety of contestants,” the Ontario commission told Marrocco in a statement posted on Twitter. “Based on the nature of Mr. Iaquinta’s injuries, a physician for the OAC determined the length of the suspension to be set at 180 days.”
Hopefully for Iaquinta, he can get any confusion cleared up without too much trouble. Or fans may not see him again until late this year, at the earliest.
Here are the rest of the suspensions from UFC Ottawa:
Donald Cerrone – 14 days
Al Iaquinta – 180 days
Derek Brunson – 14 days
Elia Theodorou – 14 days
Shane Burgos – 14 days
Cub Swanson – 30 days w/medical clearance
Merab Dvalishvili – 30 days
Brad Katona – 14 days
Walt Harris – 14 days
Serghei Spivac – 60 days w/medical clearance
Andrew Sanchez – 30 days w/medical clearance
Marc-Andre Barriault – 14 days
Macy Chiasson – 14 days
Sarah Moras – 60 days
Vince Morales – 30 days w/medical clearance
Aiemann Zahabi – 14 days
Nordine Taleb – 14 days
Kyle Prepolec – 14 days
Matt Sayles – 14 days w/medical clearance
Kyle Nelson – [unreported]
Arjan Bhullar – 14 days
Juan Adams – 30 days w/medical clearance
Cole Smith – 14 days
Mitch Gagnon – 14 days