May 12, 2011 was a tough day for MMA fans everywhere, as it was announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would be backing out of his UFC 131 fight against Junior dos Santos. I sat on the UFC conference call with a frown on my face, …
May 12, 2011 was a tough day for MMA fans everywhere, as it was announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would be backing out of his UFC 131 fight against Junior dos Santos.
I sat on the UFC conference call with a frown on my face, truly feeling the frustration coming from the mouth of Lesnar as he explained that his diverticulitis had flared up again and that he was physically unable to train, and thus to fight.
The news spread like wildfire over the Internet as fans and experts alike speculated on whether or not the mammoth heavyweight would ever step back in a UFC cage. But without a true understanding of both the disease and its potential complications, most of these people are simply guessing.
Let’s take a closer look at the entire situation so we can get a better idea on whether Lesnar can overcome his second bout with diverticulitis.
Credit to WebMD.com and Lesnar’s words himself for all relevant medical information.
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA rankings. Each month on the first and 15th, we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month, we will post our pound-for-pound rankings. The rankings were voted on by numerou…
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA rankings. Each month on the first and 15th, we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month, we will post our pound-for-pound rankings.
The rankings were voted on by numerous writers on Bleacher Report and do not reflect any of their rankings personally. The rankings are an average of each writer’s vote for each weight class.
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA Rankings. Each month on the first and 15th of the month we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month we will post our pound-for-pound rankings. The rankings were voted on by nu…
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA Rankings. Each month on the first and 15th of the month we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month we will post our pound-for-pound rankings.
The rankings were voted on by numerous writers on Bleacher Report and do not reflect any of their rankings personally. The rankings are an average of each writer’s vote for each weight class.
With all of the injuries that have hit the UFC recently, fans and the organization itself would agree that it’s a welcome change to see someone like former The Ultimate Fighter finalist, Ed Herman, coming back from a long layoff due to an injury …
With all of the injuries that have hit the UFC recently, fans and the organization itself would agree that it’s a welcome change to see someone like former The Ultimate Fighter finalist, Ed Herman, coming back from a long layoff due to an injury of his own.
We last saw Herman at UFC 102, all the way back in August 2009. It was on that night, in a fight with Aaron Simpson, that Herman’s career changed forever.
“I tore my ACL. It was in the first round when Aaron shot in on me and kind of wrapped his leg around mine, and in doing that, it hyper-extended my knee, and I think that’s where the damage was done,” he told me. “I was able to finish the round, but if you watch the fight video, you could see that I was definitely limping as I went back to the corner.”
Indeed he was. The knee looked absolutely horrible, but true to his occupation, he fought through it as much as he physically could.
“The referee came over to me and said, ‘You blew out your knee.’ I said, ‘No way man, I’m fine,'” Herman described the incident. “I came out in the second round and I walked forward just fine. I guess you can walk forward fine with a torn ACL, but moving side to side is the problem.”
He threw a kick and collapsed to the canvas in excruciating pain and the referee called the fight immediately.
The ACL, a ligament in the knee, is one of the worst parts of the body that can be injured on an athlete. Herman’s was in bad shape and needed immediate surgery, which would thankfully be covered by the UFC.
But as he recovered from the surgery and got back into the gym, lightning struck twice and the ACL was torn once again, this time in a place where the UFC didn’t have to cover him.
“The UFC took care of everything, paid all the medical bills, for both injuries. The really cool thing was the second one, because they didn’t have to do that,” he boasted of his organization.
It’s true. With the injury taking place outside of the Octagon, the UFC had no legal obligation to pay for anything. Only a morale one. But for the organization that now offers its fighters major medical coverage, it seemed like a no-brainer to help out a guy who put his body on the line for them.
Herman was excited to hear that the company was making the new insurance, though.
“There’s a big deductible with the UFC insurance, but it takes care of major injuries, which is the important thing. If you have something really bad happen, it’s worth it to pay that deductible because you know the UFC is going to cover the rest and you’re going to be seeing all the best people.”
But after moving out to Colorado with his friend Ryan Schultz where the two started their own gym called Trials MMA, Herman is excited to get back in the cage after nearly a two year absence from the sport.
“Things are going great, the knee feels great. I’m just ready to get back in there, you know? I had to go back bar tending for awhile and people were going up to me, patting me on the back, saying, ‘You were the guy who used to fight in the UFC, right?’ I smiled and everything, but it hurt a little bit. I wanted to come back as soon as I could.”
Herman will step back into the cage at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in June where he will face Tim Credeur, who has gone 3-1 in his UFC career. Credeur is a very talented fighter, but “Short Fuse” plans on mostly sticking to his usual game plan with some minor adjustments.
“You know, you do kind of change things based on the guys you’re fighting, but I think Chris Leben said it best when he said, “You dance with the lady who got you there.”
“I’ll probably change things up a bit because Tim is great off his back with submissions,” he explained. “He’s a black belt, and I’m aware of that. But at the same time, I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him. I’ve been in fights with some of the best guys in the world off their back and I’ve been caught by some of them, but I’ve caught some of them, too.“
Though Credeur is known for some impressive submissions, he’s also the kind of opponent that Herman wants to face—someone who could have a memorable war with him.
“I’m excited to fight Tim, though, because he’s a guy who’ll fight me. He’s not going to run away in the cage like Michael Bisping.”
“But I definitely look at this as a must-win. There are so many good guys in the UFC, and with them buying Strikeforce, it just makes things that much more competitive. Guys aren’t guaranteed their spots. I look at it as, I mean, if I don’t win, maybe I don’t deserve to be in the UFC.”
The injury he suffered caused Ed to re-examine his career. Now 30 years old, he realizes that his time in the sport is becoming increasingly limited.
“I think what’s changed for me since I fought last is that I’m older and I think I’ve learned how to train smarter. That’s what you’re going to see. I’m still the same Ed Herman, but I’m a smarter Ed Herman,” he proclaimed.
“I think that the goal is always to get back in there and fight as soon as possible after fights. I’m getting older and I need to get as many fights under my belt as I can. There’s only so much time, you know? If I get out of there without any injuries, and if I get a quick win, I’d like to be back in there as early as six to eight weeks, fighting again.”
That timeline would put him on track to fight again sometime in August at any one of the three events that month. But there may actually be a better time for him to fight again not long after that.
“There’s an event coming up here in Denver and I’d love to be on that card,” he revealed. “ I think it’d do a lot for me and for the gym here. We’re only about an hour out of Denver, so I think it’d be great for us to represent locally.”
Though he doesn’t have a specific opponent that he is is dying to fight, Herman does have a few names in mind.
“I’d love to fight Michael Bisping, not because I don’t like him or anything, but because he’s got a lot of hype surrounding him right now and it’d be good for my career.”
“Other than that, I’d love to fight Brian Stann, since he knocked out my buddy Chris Leben. I’ve trained with Brian before and he’s a great guy, it’s nothing personal, but he knocked out my friend. After Chris beat Simpson, he gave me a shout-out, which was awesome. I’d love to do the same thing.”
He would also like to avenge some previous losses.
“I’d love to fight Demian Maia again, I’d love to fight Jason MacDonald, Kendall Grove. But really, there’s so many guys in the UFC, that I just want to fight.”
And fight he will on June 4.
In the meantime, fans can wish Ed luck in his comeback fight by following him on Twitter @EdHermanUFC. He recently cracked 1,000 followers and is looking to add more, with the UFC recently announcing that they will be doing some incentives for fighters who are most active on Twitter.
The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.Carwin, a former UFC interim …
The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.
Carwin, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion himself, was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131, but was informed by his manager that he would instead be bumped up to the main event.
The news actually came as a surprise to Carwin, who had no idea about the situation until his manager informed him.
“I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva,” Carwin said on his blog. “I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar’s spot for 131.”
The timing was actually convenient for Carwin, given that he was preparing for a fight and will just need to change the focus of his training. Dos Santos will need to do the same.
“Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title. I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain.”
Despite losing his last fight in the Octagon to Lesnar, Carwin gave his best wishes his former foe as he prepared to take his place.
“I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day.”
The string of top-level fighters needing to drop out of fights continues today. Bleacher Report learned on a UFC conference call that Brock Lesnar has officially pulled out of his scheduled UFC 131 bout against Junior dos Santos. He will be replaced by…
The string of top-level fighters needing to drop out of fights continues today. Bleacher Report learned on a UFC conference call that Brock Lesnar has officially pulled out of his scheduled UFC 131 bout against Junior dos Santos. He will be replaced by fellow top heavyweight contender, Shane Carwin.
After spending nearly a year outside of the Octagon, battling nearly to death with a disease known as diverticulitis, Lesnar returned to defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Shane Carwin before eventually dropping the belt to Cain Velasquez later in the year.
Unfortunately, the disease has been acting up again and has significantly impacted his training regimen, causing him to drop out of the fight.
“I want to thank the UFC, Mr. [Dana] White and I want to apologize to Junior dos Santos and to Spike TV. This is an unfortunate situation for me,” Lesnar started. “Diverticulitis is something that doesn’t go away. It’s something that’s in your colon for the rest of your life.”
“I was forced to make a decision to go back down to the doctor this week to determine how far along this thing is.”
Thankfully, the situation is not as dire as it was the first time he was dealing with it, but it is becoming increasingly likely that Lesnar will eventually need surgery.
“It’s not as serious as last time, it just didn’t allow me to train the way I needed to train for a number one contender’s bout,” Lesnar conceded. “I’m forced with the decision to either have surgery or deal with this for the rest of my life. A lot of things go through your mind as an athlete. This is something that has been wearing on me for about a month now.”
But true to what he has always said, Lesnar understands that fighting is only a small part of his life. His loved ones are what matters most.
“It wouldn’t be fair to myself, my family, or the people I give a performance in front of. I wouldn’t have been 100 percent on June 11. I’m not there now. My health is number one, my family is number one.”
Still, the former champion insists this is not the end.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not retiring. This is not the end of my career. I love this sport. This is not the end of Brock Lesnar…Far from it.”
He has not decided whether or not he will get surgery immediately or will attempt to fight it without going under the knife, as he did before. Brock, his family and doctors, are still awaiting test results to determine what the next course of action is.
“My diet has carried me this far. It was a miracle that I didn’t have to have the surgery. Everything was back to normal. But diverticulitis never disappears. It’s whether they become inflamed and infected. I felt the symptoms about three weeks ago and I got on the antibiotics and they didn’t do it, so I started a second course of antibiotics.”
Though he is not in the hospital at the moment, the battle with the disease has taken a serious physical toll on Lesnar as he prepared for his bout with Dos Santos.
“There were days when I had to miss a day just to rest for the next day, but when I got in, I just didn’t have the energy to be at the top of my game.”
“When you have a 12-week training camp and it’s condensed to six, it’s not a wise athletic decision. I just didn’t feel like I could do it.”
Dana White made sure to note that he understands, respects and agrees that Lesnar’s health is more important than fighting for the UFC. But with the company’s top draw being knocked out of the UFC 131 event, the replacement has already been named in the form of former interim champion, Shane Carwin.
Carwin was originally scheduled to fight UFC newcomer, Jon Olav Einemo on the same show, but will now get a shot to prove himself once again against one of the top fighters in the world.
No replacement for Carwin has been named yet, but Dana White did indicate that the company is working on it.
