It seems like all I’ve done lately is write about all the injuries that have occurred in MMA in the past two weeks. I find myself in the role of “bearer of bad news,” and quite frankly I’m getting kind of tired of it. I’m …
It seems like all I’ve done lately is write about all the injuries that have occurred in MMA in the past two weeks. I find myself in the role of “bearer of bad news,” and quite frankly I’m getting kind of tired of it. I’m tired of getting excited for fights and cards only to […]
I think we can officially call it a “wave”ofinjuries now: The latest UFC fighter to withdraw from an upcoming marquee matchup is middleweight Brian Stann, who will not be making his UFC on FOX 4 main event date with former Bellator champ Hector Lombard due to a shoulder injury. According to MMA Fighting, Stann will not require surgery, but will be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks.
No word yet on who will come in to replace Stann against Lombard, if anybody — but theoretically, that person will need a strongchin if he hopes to last past the first round. The co-main event for UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) is a just-as-marketable light-heavyweight feature between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, which could be bumped to the top as a last resort. We’ll keep you posted when we know more.
(I know, dude. I know.)
I think we can officially call it a “wave”ofinjuries now: The latest UFC fighter to withdraw from an upcoming marquee matchup is middleweight Brian Stann, who will not be making his UFC on FOX 4 main event date with former Bellator champ Hector Lombard due to a shoulder injury. According to MMA Fighting, Stann will not require surgery, but will be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks.
No word yet on who will come in to replace Stann against Lombard, if anybody — but theoretically, that person will need a strongchin if he hopes to last past the first round. The co-main event for UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) is a just-as-marketable light-heavyweight feature between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, which could be bumped to the top as a last resort. We’ll keep you posted when we know more.
(Looks healthy to me. Rub some dirt on it and suck in that lip, kid. / Photo via @vitorbelfort)
When we finally get around to making our “Ten Top Injury-Cursed MMA Fighters of All Time” list, Vitor Belfort has to be in the top 3 based on the number of marquee fights that have been scrapped due to his horrifically bad luck. The UFC announced over the weekend that Belfort has suffered (another) broken hand in training, and won’t be able to fight Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC 147 (June 23rd; Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The event will go on as scheduled, with the Axe Murderer headlining against an opponent to be named later.
So who would you like to see step in against Wanderlei Silva? And should the UFC consider scrapping this card altogether?
(Looks healthy to me. Rub some dirt on it and suck in that lip, kid. / Photo via @vitorbelfort)
When we finally get around to making our “Ten Top Injury-Cursed MMA Fighters of All Time” list, Vitor Belfort has to be in the top 3 based on the number of marquee fights that have been scrapped due to his horrifically bad luck. The UFC announced over the weekend that Belfort has suffered (another) broken hand in training, and won’t be able to fight Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC 147 (June 23rd; Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The event will go on as scheduled, with the Axe Murderer headlining against an opponent to be named later.
Now, if that happened to my hand, it would be a wrap — you wouldn’t be able to stop me from sobbing. But Josh Barnett is cut from a different cloth than you or I. Despite suffering this uncomfortable-looking break within the first 30 seconds of his Strikeforce headlining fight against Black Fedor/Bro Cop on Saturday, the Warmaster bravely battled on for five agonizing rounds, only letting the pain show after the match was over. That’s what you call a savage and a true champ. Daniel Cormier also re-broke his hand early in the fight, but until he provides us with x-ray evidence, we’re going to have to proclaim Barnett the winner of their unofficial Gnarly Hand Injury contest.
Now, if that happened to my hand, it would be a wrap — you wouldn’t be able to stop me from sobbing. But Josh Barnett is cut from a different cloth than you or I. Despite suffering this uncomfortable-looking break within the first 30 seconds of his Strikeforce headlining fight against Black Fedor/Bro Cop on Saturday, the Warmaster bravely battled on for five agonizing rounds, only letting the pain show after the match was over. That’s what you call a savage and a true champ. Daniel Cormier also re-broke his hand early in the fight, but until he provides us with x-ray evidence, we’re going to have to proclaim Barnett the winner of their unofficial Gnarly Hand Injury contest.
UFC welterweight James Wilks — who became the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. after slicing through Che Mills, Frank Lester (twice), and DaMarques Johnson — has announced his retirement from MMA. The 34-year-old Brit has been sidelined due to injuries since his decision loss to Claude Patrick in October 2010, and finally gave in to doctors’ warnings that he could become paralyzed if he continued to compete.
As MMAJunkie explained, Wilks has spent his entire MMA career fighting with a fractured vertebrae from an old rugby injury, leading to a condition called spinal stenosis: “My bones are touching the spinal cord,” Wilks said. “There should be a gap, so when you get hit, you’ve got some leeway for it not to cut into the vertebrae. But my vertebrae have grown from the front and back, and they’re touching the spinal cord…I think if I was single and didn’t have a wife and a son to look after, I probably would have risked it. But I thought about it for quite a while and made the decision (to retire)…It sucks because I don’t feel I’ve shown what really have in the Octagon, and I didn’t want to go out on a loss.”
Wilks compiled an official record of 2-2 in the Octagon, including a decision win over Peter Sobotta at UFC 115. He’ll now turn his attention to teaching at his Lightning MMA gym in Laguna Hills, California, and extolling the virtues of a plant-based diet.
UFC welterweight James Wilks — who became the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. after slicing through Che Mills, Frank Lester (twice), and DaMarques Johnson — has announced his retirement from MMA. The 34-year-old Brit has been sidelined due to injuries since his decision loss to Claude Patrick in October 2010, and finally gave in to doctors’ warnings that he could become paralyzed if he continued to compete.
As MMAJunkie explained, Wilks has spent his entire MMA career fighting with a fractured vertebrae from an old rugby injury, leading to a condition called spinal stenosis: ”My bones are touching the spinal cord,” Wilks said. “There should be a gap, so when you get hit, you’ve got some leeway for it not to cut into the vertebrae. But my vertebrae have grown from the front and back, and they’re touching the spinal cord…I think if I was single and didn’t have a wife and a son to look after, I probably would have risked it. But I thought about it for quite a while and made the decision (to retire)…It sucks because I don’t feel I’ve shown what really have in the Octagon, and I didn’t want to go out on a loss.”
“I was in training camp, I had just gotten done with TUF, and I usually get done about 11. I got to practice at 11:30 and I was sparring that day with kickboxing and takedowns and a guy got behind me in a scramble and he went for a trip, the trip, his hips went in on my knee and it just buckled my knee right then and there. I sat out the rest of the round, threw some ice on my knee, it was pretty painful. I was just kind of hoping for the best to be honest. I was hoping and praying that it was nothing crazy because it was a very, very loud pop. I kind of went into denial mode for the rest of that day saying ‘Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine.’ So I took some ibuprofen and that night I went in to get my normal workout in and I go to move around and get my shadowboxing going to warm up and me knee just pops right out. And I just knew right then and there that I needed to go get an MRI and get this checked out because me knee wasn’t stable and it kind of felt like I was walking on ice. I went in and got an MRI that day and got the bad results, the bad news…
Just to shut down some rumors that Faber thinks is funny to start and makes jokes about an Olympic bronze medalist and her taking out my knees. To me it’s not really funny, it’s just another way to know, for the world to know why me and Faber don’t get along. I wasn’t training with her at all. I brought her in to help my team on TUF…
(The truth is, Ronda walked into the gym and Dominick’s knees buckled on their own. / Photo via @RondaRousey)
“I was in training camp, I had just gotten done with TUF, and I usually get done about 11. I got to practice at 11:30 and I was sparring that day with kickboxing and takedowns and a guy got behind me in a scramble and he went for a trip, the trip, his hips went in on my knee and it just buckled my knee right then and there. I sat out the rest of the round, threw some ice on my knee, it was pretty painful. I was just kind of hoping for the best to be honest. I was hoping and praying that it was nothing crazy because it was a very, very loud pop. I kind of went into denial mode for the rest of that day saying ‘Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine.’ So I took some ibuprofen and that night I went in to get my normal workout in and I go to move around and get my shadowboxing going to warm up and me knee just pops right out. And I just knew right then and there that I needed to go get an MRI and get this checked out because me knee wasn’t stable and it kind of felt like I was walking on ice. I went in and got an MRI that day and got the bad results, the bad news…
Just to shut down some rumors that Faber thinks is funny to start and makes jokes about an Olympic bronze medalist and her taking out my knees. To me it’s not really funny, it’s just another way to know, for the world to know why me and Faber don’t get along. I wasn’t training with her at all. I brought her in to help my team on TUF…
Cruz went on to say that he regretted having to pull out of his title fight at UFC 148, but still wished that Faber didn’t have to act like such a Faber:
“Well, you know, he did say that he doesn’t wish that injury on anybody, and I believe that. Nobody wants an injury like this to happen and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody either. To be perfectly honest, I somewhat have to apologize, not just to my fans out there, but to Faber because of this situation taking place. It’s frustrating for him as well so I can understand that. But at the same time, trying to make jokes about it and starting rumors about Ronda Rousey you know, busting my knees, that’s putting questions on her that are not necessary and putting questions on me that are not necessary, with this injury that’s already enough. So he is being very Faber-esque in the situation…I want to be training back in four to six months so that I can start to get back on the path of going in there and competing and winning.”
