A huge bombshell was dropped tonight after the post-fight press conference in a discussion with Dana White. While speaking with the MMA media, White was asked about the proposed VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) testing in the B.J. Penn-Rory MacDonald fight.
The follow-up question was, if one of the fighters tests positive, would White pull them from the card? His response was the very definition of breaking news.
“We don’t have to worry about that anyway. It won’t happen. Rory’s out. He got cut open today, wide open. 38-48 stitches. No contact for a month. It’s off.”
White learned (as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was walking out to the cage), that Rory MacDonald suffered a cut in training and had been forced out of the fight scheduled for September 22, 2012.
White’s delivery of his words really showed how shocked he was at receiving the news from Rory’s management.
White was also unsure if this meant that B.J. Penn would also be pulled from the event. It was a situation where there was no perfect response.
Fans are obviously disappointed that the fight was pulled from the card—losing B.J. Penn entirely would really set the UFC back.
To his credit, Rory MacDonald didn’t wish for the UFC to pull Penn from the event. He wants to see him face another opponent as one of the main draws of UFC 152.
There is no word on when fans can expect to see Rory MacDonald again in the Octagon.
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