On Monday the UFC announced that the upcoming lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar, and challenger Gray Maynard, was being pulled from the upcoming UFC 130 card due to injuries suffered by both fighters in training.
Early reports listed Edgar’s injury as broken ribs, but the champ has since clarified his injury indicating that it’s his back, and not his ribs, which has forced him out of his title rematch with Maynard.
Both men had been scheduled to headline the May 28, UFC 130 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. With the fight pulled from the card, co-main event fighters Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill have been promoted to top spot. The event is now labelled UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill.
“All of the reports are talking about my ribs, it’s actually my back,” says Edgar. “My back’s been bothering me for quite some time. A few weeks ago I had to take a week off so that my back could calm down and I was trying to fight through it. I got through it and it kept blowing out on me here and there but then I ended up blowing out a rib last week. My rib kept popping in and out and then last week my back went out on me really bad, so I went to see a doctor and he said I’ve got bulging discs and now I’m going to go see a specialist to see what he can do about it.”
“I saw a UFC doctor yesterday and he said my L2 and L5 discs are bulged, and he recommended that I don’t fight right now,” Edgar said. “I can’t even put my socks on or hold my kids, it’s pretty bad right now…”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be out. I’m hoping surgery won’t be an option right now, I’m hoping I can rehab it and get better and get back to training in a month, but I can’t give you any solid answer right now as to how long I’ll be out,” he said. “From what I hear, Gray is pretty banged up and he wasn’t having the best camp either, so maybe everything happens for a reason. I know that when I fight Gray I want him to be at his best, he wants me to be at my best and I’m sure the fans want us both at our best too.”
Check out the full interview at UFC.com