Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was rumored to be making his Light Heavyweight debut at UFC 227 against former division title contender Alexander Gustafsson on Aug. 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. But after he suffered an injury in training, those plans went out the window.
In a set of videos Luke sent to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, you can see doctors stitching up a nasty cut on Luke’s left shin. Here’s another look:
And if that video wasn’t enough for you, here’s another of the stitching. pic.twitter.com/7DNsftcirW
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 22, 2018
Ouch.
On the bright side, Rockhold expects to return to action later this year and won’t miss an extended period of time as was the case after sitting out more than a year after suffering an injury in November of 2016. Luke was last seen losing to Yoel Romero via knockout at UFC 221 this past February.
As for “The Mauler,” he will have to set his sights on another opponent, and Dana White’s dream of stacking UFC 227 to the gills is no more, as not only has this bout been axed but Yair Rodriguez is no longer with the promotion and Nate Diaz isn’t too big on ending his hiatus to face Georges St-Pierre.
At least we still have this.