(“Uh, Jessamyn, we’re gonna need you to stop with the hand gestures while we take this x-ray.”)
Fight Night 45 was one of the most violent non-Fight for the Troops cards in UFC History, featuring an astounding nine finishes, 8 TKOs, and a six fight main card that not once required a judge’s input. My decision to spend most of the night ranting about Microsoft tech support notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed what the card had to offer, from the prelim fights all the way up to the main event, which saw Donald Cerrone finish the damn-near unfinishable Jim Miller *twice* in their two round banger.
In one of those aforementioned prelim fights, Leslie Smith destroyed Ronda Rousey training partner (as she was introduced by Jon Anik) Jessamyn Duke in the first round, finishing her with a flurry of body shots, kicks, and knees that was Liddell vs. Ortiz-esque in terms of its volume. But it was only matter of time before the excuses started flying, and luckily, Duke’s training partner, Shayna Baszler, is here to jump on that grenade.
“For everyone asking, @jessamynduke broke her hand. Didn’t know what to do once Leslie turned it on when she couldn’t grab and circle off,” Baszler posted on Twitter shortly after the fight.
While I would disagree that Duke’s inability to circle off was less the cause of her demise than her inability to use her massive reach advantage to her…uh…advantage, the above photo posted to Duke’s instagram seems to indicate that her hand was indeed broken to shit. You can check out a few other photos of Duke’s hand over at the UG, but really, this comment by UG’er rrefs sums up Duke/Baszler’s excuse perfectly…
Classic reference, rrefs. Bravo.
In other Fight Night 45 medical news, Jim Miller caught an indefinite suspension pending an x-ray on his right forearm and stomach following his loss to Cowboy Cerrone. Joe Proctor, on the other hand, got off easy with a 30 day suspension despite the fact that he apparently had a golf ball lodged into the side of his cranium midway through his eventual TKO win over Justin Salas.
The rest of the Fight Night 45 medical suspension are below, via MMAWeekly.
-Evan Dunham was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.
-Justin Salas was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss and for facial laceration healing.
-Alptekin Ozkilic was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan.
-Alex White was suspended for 45 days for right eye laceration healing, as well as 30 days with no contact for a knockout loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan and neurological examination.
-Hugo Viana was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.
-Tina Lahdemaki was suspended for 60 days with no contact for recovery. She was also suspended indefinitely pending opthalmological clearance of her right eye.
One final note: Chris Lytle joined the FS1 team earlier this week, and his first night of fight-calling featured more body shots and all out wars than any card in recent memory. Coincidence? No, no it is not.