There has been a recent rash of injuries that have been affecting the UFC lately. It seems like every day we are hearing a fighter have to bow out of a fight due to injury. You can throw Ricardo Lamas into that category.
Lamas (11-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) returns to the octagon for the first time since November as he will square off tonight against Hatsu Hioki (26-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City in a key featherweight bout.
Lamas was scheduled to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 143, but had to bow out due to undisclosed injury and now is 100 percent and ready to go.
“I accepted the (Poirier) fight and I would have been starting a couple weeks late,” Lamas told Bleacher Report. “By the time I hit the ground running, started training really hard and I pulled a muscle, I tore a muscle kind of bad. I didn’t rest it and I was sparring one day and I ended up tearing it. That’s why I had to pull out of the fight there. I wish I could have fought. I really hated pulling out because that was the first time I had to do that. But it is what it is. I had to take care of myself.”
Hioki is known for his world class grappling and out of 26 wins, 12 of them are by submission. Lamas though states nothing about Hioki scares him in the slightest.
“I know he’s a great grappler, he’s tough on top, he’s tough on his back,” Lamas states. “But I have six, seven black belts I train with every single day. I train with Daniel Delgrade who’s a no-gi world champion everyday. There’s nothing that he brings to the table that’s gonna scare me.”
With featherweight champion Jose Aldo unable to defend his title against Eric Koch next month at UFC 149 due to injury, the bout is scrapped until later this year. People still feel this bout tonight could be a number one contender’s fight, but Lamas is only looking straight ahead.
“I’m just viewing it as a fight,” Lamas states. “That’s how I’m treating it. I’m not thinking past it. I’m not thinking about where it’s gonna put me in line for a title shot. I’m not looking past Hatsu Hioki for one second. I’m giving him the respect that he deserves. I’m not gonna look past him at all.”
UFC on FX 4 takes place from Revel Atlantic City in Atlantic City, NJ. The Lamas vs Hioki fight is on the preliminary portion of the card, which you can watch on Fuel TV.
You can listen to the entire Ricardo Lamas here.
You can also follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com