It’s fair to say Ryan Bader was very excited about his chance to stop the hype around light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 160, but a training injury derailed his plans.
Bader was forced out of his scheduled bout against Teixeira this week after suffering a knee injury that puts him on the sidelines for several weeks.
The former Ultimate Fighter winner was struggling with his knee after a workout, and when the pain didn’t subside, he ended up having an MRI to see what was going on. The result was an injury to his MCL (medial collateral ligament), according to his manager David Martin of the Martin Advisory Group, who spoke with Bleacher Report on Monday evening.
Following the results of the MRI, doctors advised Bader to stay out of any kind of activity for the next six to eight weeks to allow the knee to heal.
The timeline given to Bader suggests a tear in his MCL, but surgery is rarely recommended or required for an injury to that part of the knee. Doctors typically recommend immobilization of the knee followed by wearing a knee brace while the MCL continues to heal.
According to Bader’s manager, the injury putting him out for the next six to eight weeks was just too much to allow him to try to take a fight scheduled at UFC 160, which takes place on May 25.
Bader was returning to action after a blistering performance in January where he submitted veteran fighter Vladimir Matyushenko in just 50 seconds at UFC on Fox 6 in Chicago. That put Bader’s record at 3-1 over his past four fights, with his lone loss coming to former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida last August at UFC on Fox 4.
For now, Bader will sit and let his knee heal to prevent any further damage being done so he can return at full health later this year.
Bader’s manager noted that his return could be targeted for a mid- to late summer timeline depending on when the UFC could and would be able to schedule him again.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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