HOUSTON, TX — The UFC apparently dodged a bullet.
Ahead of his UFC 166 rubber match against Cain Velasquez, former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos showed up at Wednesday’s open workouts sporting a small vertical scar above his right eyebrow.
According to dos Santos, he suffered a cut three weeks ago which required stitches.
“It was in the training (camp), and it was accidental,” dos Santos admitted. “But not too [bad]. I’m okay already.”
UFC officials encountered a similar situation earlier this year when Alexander Gustafsson suffered a facial cut late in training camp, which ultimately led to his last-second withdrawal from a UFC on FUEL TV 9 slot within his native Sweden. With virtually no time to scrounge up a replacement, the UFC signed then-unknown light heavyweight Ilir Latifi to fight Gegard Mousasi.
Luckily for UFC officials, this time around dos Santos’ cut occurred early enough for the healing process to begin working its magic.
Still, while dos Santos claims to be “100-percent,” the scar appeared fresh enough to where it could become a potential wild card if Velasquez targets and reopens it during the pair’s trilogy match, which takes place October 19, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.