https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-kTKfdM5lM
No. 5 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight Bryan Caraway was recently bitten by the injury bug. “Kid Lightening” had a chance to make his strongest case for a title bout yet at UFC Fight Night in Phoenix. Caraway was set to meet No. 6 ranked Jimmie Rivera next Sunday (Jan. 15).
That fight won’t be happening anytime soon as Caraway was forced to pull out. Some Twitter users reached out to the Xtreme Couture fighter including LowKickMMA’s Jon Fuentes to find out what went wrong. Caraway responded:
I hurt my shoulder last fight. Then rehabbed & trained my ass off trying to come back in Oct. Training to hard & it went out.
— Bryan Caraway (@BryanCaraway) January 6, 2017
Caraway reached out to fight fans to express his grief over being forced to pull out of the event. He said the doctors simply wouldn’t give him the okay to compete.
“I am sorry fans. I was urged to go to the doc and the doc told me I couldn’t fight. I am devastated by this news and injury.”
The 135-pounder also offered an apology to Rivera.
@JimmieRivera135 Hey man I truly am sorry about the injury. I tried 2 fight despite of it but the doc would not clear me. Wishing you well.
— Bryan Caraway (@BryanCaraway) January 6, 2017
When news broke out of Caraway’s injury, former flyweight contender John Dodson offered to step up to fight “El Terror” inside the Talking Stick Resort Arena. Instead, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) went with Marlon Vera.
Caraway’s entry to the UFC was through The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). He was suffered a TKO loss to Diego Brandao in the semi-finals of season 14. “Kid Lightening” was still offered a UFC contract and won two straight bouts. After a split decision loss to Takeya Mizugaki, Caraway won two straight once again.
He lost fell short against Raphael Assuncao in Oct. 2014. Just like he did following his last two losses, Caraway won two in a row. His biggest victory was against Aljamain Sterling at UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt. Sterling was undefeated going into the match-up.
There’s no word on how long Caraway will be out of action. Stick with MMANews.com for more details as they become available.