Tag: knee injuries

Anthony Pettis Hoping to Avoid Knee Surgery That Could Sideline Him Up to Six Months


(Unfortunately, the human body’s ligaments simply weren’t designed to handle this much #SWAG. / Photo via showtimepettis)

After tearing his PCL during his UFC 164 title win against Benson Henderson, UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis spent two months rehabbing the injury. As you’ve probably heard by now, that hasn’t really solved the problem.

“The first time I came back (to train in the gym) I got a light kick in the shin and it swelled up real bad,” Pettis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Pettis was forced to scrap his UFC on FOX 9 title defense against Josh Thomson to have his knee issues resolved, but it’s been rough going so far. He’s already had three different doctors give him three different recommendations, and he’s getting a fourth opinion next week in Los Angeles. If that fourth doctor recommends surgery, that will likely be his course of action.

“Most doctors don’t operate on PCLs, so no one has a clear answer at this point,” Pettis said. “I’m going to L.A. after my brother’s fight to get another opinion. If I do need surgery, the time frame is four to six months off. If we decide to rehab, it’s another four to six weeks. I’m hoping for no surgery, but I don’t want this to be something that keeps happening…I’m trying to figure out the right steps now. My biggest fear is that I give it four to six weeks (of rehab) and then the same thing happens.”


(Unfortunately, the human body’s ligaments simply weren’t designed to handle this much #SWAG. / Photo via showtimepettis)

After tearing his PCL during his UFC 164 title win against Benson Henderson, UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis spent two months rehabbing the injury. As you’ve probably heard by now, that hasn’t really solved the problem.

“The first time I came back (to train in the gym) I got a light kick in the shin and it swelled up real bad,” Pettis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Pettis was forced to scrap his UFC on FOX 9 title defense against Josh Thomson to have his knee issues resolved, but it’s been rough going so far. He’s already had three different doctors give him three different recommendations, and he’s getting a fourth opinion next week in Los Angeles. If that fourth doctor recommends surgery, that will likely be his course of action.

“Most doctors don’t operate on PCLs, so no one has a clear answer at this point,” Pettis said. “I’m going to L.A. after my brother’s fight to get another opinion. If I do need surgery, the time frame is four to six months off. If we decide to rehab, it’s another four to six weeks. I’m hoping for no surgery, but I don’t want this to be something that keeps happening…I’m trying to figure out the right steps now. My biggest fear is that I give it four to six weeks (of rehab) and then the same thing happens.”

Pettis went on to say that the UFC has been very supportive during this process, covering the lightweight star’s travel and medical expenses to make sure the injury is taken care of properly. But if you ask UFC president Dana White, a long layoff is almost certainly in Pettis’s future:

“He’s definitely going to need surgery,” White told MMAFighting.com. It’s just one of those things. Gotta get him healed here and see what happens.”

In the meantime, the lightweight division will go on without its champion. As of now, top contenders Josh Thomson, TJ Grant, Gilbert Melendez and Khabib Nurmagomedov are all waiting for their next assignments. I say, throw ‘em all together in a one-night four-man tournament to determine the next title challenger. And since something like this would never be approved by the Las Vegas or New Jersey athletic commissions…shall we say Helsinki?

Cat Zingano’s Right Knee Recovering Well, Left Knee Now Kind of Screwed Up

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Cat Zingano was all set to have a star-making coaching role on TUF followed by an immediate title shot against Ronda Rousey — until a tear of the ACL and meniscus of her right knee put her career momentum to a swift halt. Zingano’s recovery has been pretty gnarly at times, but her knee has been healing up according to schedule. Unfortunately, the condition of her left knee might complicate things.

“Cat is now three months out from her right knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction,” explains Dr. Ronald S. Kvitne of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, in a new video released on Cat Zingano’s Facebook page last night. “She’s three months out, her knee looks great. She’s got almost perfect motion, she’s got great strength, she’s got excellent stability. Her bulk has come back on the thigh and the calf muscles. So, she’s about three months from getting back in the ring and starting to spar for an upcoming fight.”

“The only problem is, the other knee, the left knee, appears to have somewhere along the line gotten into trouble with a medial meniscus tear. So we’re gonna confirm that today with an MRI scan. If she does have a torn meniscus, she’ll need an arthroscopy surgery fairly quickly, so she can get back on track with the rehab. We think that within three months from now she can be back in the ring training, sparring, so that hopefully [she’ll be] fighting in about four to six months from now…in terms of the recovery of the right knee, she’s absolutely perfect on track, the left knee is throwing a little bit of a monkey wrench into things. If it is torn, we can fix that and have you rehabbed in three months, that quick and no problem.”

We’ll update you if Zingano’s recovery encounters any further delays. By the way, today marks the two-year anniversary of the last time Dominick Cruz competed in the Octagon. Anyway, get well soon, Cat.

After the jump: That video of Cat Zingano’s stretching routine that we’re obligated to post every time we mention her.

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Cat Zingano was all set to have a star-making coaching role on TUF followed by an immediate title shot against Ronda Rousey — until a tear of the ACL and meniscus of her right knee put her career momentum to a swift halt. Zingano’s recovery has been pretty gnarly at times, but her knee has been healing up according to schedule. Unfortunately, the condition of her left knee might complicate things.

“Cat is now three months out from her right knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction,” explains Dr. Ronald S. Kvitne of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, in a new video released on Cat Zingano’s Facebook page last night. “She’s three months out, her knee looks great. She’s got almost perfect motion, she’s got great strength, she’s got excellent stability. Her bulk has come back on the thigh and the calf muscles. So, she’s about three months from getting back in the ring and starting to spar for an upcoming fight.”

“The only problem is, the other knee, the left knee, appears to have somewhere along the line gotten into trouble with a medial meniscus tear. So we’re gonna confirm that today with an MRI scan. If she does have a torn meniscus, she’ll need an arthroscopy surgery fairly quickly, so she can get back on track with the rehab. We think that within three months from now she can be back in the ring training, sparring, so that hopefully [she’ll be] fighting in about four to six months from now…in terms of the recovery of the right knee, she’s absolutely perfect on track, the left knee is throwing a little bit of a monkey wrench into things. If it is torn, we can fix that and have you rehabbed in three months, that quick and no problem.”

We’ll update you if Zingano’s recovery encounters any further delays. By the way, today marks the two-year anniversary of the last time Dominick Cruz competed in the Octagon. Anyway, get well soon, Cat.

After the jump: That video of Cat Zingano’s stretching routine that we’re obligated to post every time we mention her.

Anthony Pettis Will Face TJ Grant When He Returns From Rehabbing Knee Sprain


(Anthony’s a generous guy. He actually left behind that WEC belt as a tip. / Photo via instagram.com/showtimepettis)

New UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis won’t be chasing a superfight against Jose Aldo just yet. As first reported by Kevin Iole, Pettis’s next fight will be a title-defense against TJ Grant, at an event to be named later.

Grant, who has won his last five fights in the Octagon, was slated to challenge Benson Henderson for the lightweight title at UFC 164, but was replaced by Pettis after he suffered a concussion in training. And now, Grant is coming to collect on the title shot he was originally promised, and then not promised, and is now being promised again, I guess.

As for when this lightweight title fight will take place, it partially depends on the condition of Pettis’s knee. “Showtime” suffered a moderate knee sprain while checking a kick from Bendo during their fight last Saturday, and will be sidelined for 7-8 weeks to rehab it. Luckily, the injury won’t require surgery, and it’s likely that we’ll see him back in action early next year.


(Anthony’s a generous guy. He actually left behind that WEC belt as a tip. / Photo via instagram.com/showtimepettis)

New UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis won’t be chasing a superfight against Jose Aldo just yet. As first reported by Kevin Iole, Pettis’s next fight will be a title-defense against TJ Grant, at an event to be named later.

Grant, who has won his last five fights in the Octagon, was slated to challenge Benson Henderson for the lightweight title at UFC 164, but was replaced by Pettis after he suffered a concussion in training. And now, Grant is coming to collect on the title shot he was originally promised, and then not promised, and is now being promised again, I guess.

As for when this lightweight title fight will take place, it partially depends on the condition of Pettis’s knee. “Showtime” suffered a moderate knee sprain while checking a kick from Bendo during their fight last Saturday, and will be sidelined for 7-8 weeks to rehab it. Luckily, the injury won’t require surgery, and it’s likely that we’ll see him back in action early next year.

Scratch That: Conor McGregor Suffered a Torn ACL in Last Fight, Won’t Be Fighting Anybody for 10 Months


(So…back to taking public transportation, then? / Photo via Conor McGregor’s Facebook page)

Well, it looks like the Conor McGregor hype train has pulled into the station for extensive repairs. Though the Irish featherweight was originally reported to have suffered a minor ACL sprain during his decision victory over Max Hollaway last weekend,  an MRI has revealed that McGregor actually sustained an ACL tear, an MCL strain, and a posterior horn meniscal tear. (Aye…da dreaded O’Donoghue’s triad.) He will be out of action for approximately 10 months.

So no, he won’t be fighting Diego Brandao — or anybody else — at UFC 168. It’s a shame, because McGregor was on a roll, in terms of trash-talking other fighters on Twitter. A couple of nights ago, he dissed the majority of the UFC’s featherweight contenders, calling them boring (Guida, Lentz), old (Swanson, Siver), undersized (Mendes, Edgar), or unpopular (Lamas, Koch). And then, he got into a twitter-beef with Diego Sanchez, telling The Dream “You’re the fattest, sloppiest, slowest Martial Artist i’ve ever laid eyes on. I’d go up to 170 to whoop your fat ass. EASY.”

McGregor won’t be able to back up any of his words until next summer. Still, he tried to put a brash spin on his knee injury this morning, writing: “I celebrate adversity. Congratulations. Your favourite fighter is safe. For 10 months. #AintNothing I’ll do it on my back. EASY!!!!”

Our advice to Conor? Sell your watches and start shopping at Men’s Wearhouse.


(So…back to taking public transportation, then? / Photo via Conor McGregor’s Facebook page)

Well, it looks like the Conor McGregor hype train has pulled into the station for extensive repairs. Though the Irish featherweight was originally reported to have suffered a minor ACL sprain during his decision victory over Max Hollaway last weekend,  an MRI has revealed that McGregor actually sustained an ACL tear, an MCL strain, and a posterior horn meniscal tear. (Aye…da dreaded O’Donoghue’s triad.) He will be out of action for approximately 10 months.

So no, he won’t be fighting Diego Brandao — or anybody else — at UFC 168. It’s a shame, because McGregor was on a roll, in terms of trash-talking other fighters on Twitter. A couple of nights ago, he dissed the majority of the UFC’s featherweight contenders, calling them boring (Guida, Lentz), old (Swanson, Siver), undersized (Mendes, Edgar), or unpopular (Lamas, Koch). And then, he got into a twitter-beef with Diego Sanchez, telling The Dream “You’re the fattest, sloppiest, slowest Martial Artist i’ve ever laid eyes on. I’d go up to 170 to whoop your fat ass. EASY.”

McGregor won’t be able to back up any of his words until next summer. Still, he tried to put a brash spin on his knee injury this morning, writing: “I celebrate adversity. Congratulations. Your favourite fighter is safe. For 10 months. #AintNothing I’ll do it on my back. EASY!!!!”

Our advice to Conor? Sell your watches and start shopping at Men’s Wearhouse.

Anthony Pettis Out of UFC 163 With Knee Injury; ‘Korean Zombie’ to Replace Him Against Jose Aldo

(Replace the number ‘162’ with ‘163’, and this promo is still pretty damn relevant. / Props: TheSuperactiontv)

Anthony Pettis‘s divisional line-cutting has apparently angered the vengeful MMA Gods, who have struck down the crowd-pleasing striker with a knee injury. UFC president Dana White just confirmed the bad news, saying that Pettis is officially out of his scheduled featherweight title fight against Jose Aldo, which was slated to go down at UFC 163, August 3rd at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Pettis described the injury as a “small tear in my meniscus,” but didn’t give a specific timetable on his return.

So that’s the bad news. The good news is, Pettis has already been replaced by a title-challenger who’s actually earned a crack at the 145-pound belt: Chan Sung Jung, better known to us Westerners as “The Korean Zombie.” Jung was originally scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas in a likely #1 contender bout at UFC 162 next month, but has now been fast-tracked to a title fight in order to rescue the UFC 163 main event.

“TKZ” is 3-0 in the UFC, with incredible stoppage victories against Leonard Garcia (via twister submission), Mark Hominick (via seven-second KO), and Dustin Poirier (via d’arce choke, in a Fight of the Year candidate last May).

So who’s your pick in Aldo vs. Zombie? And is this a more interesting matchup to you than Aldo vs. Pettis?


(Replace the number ’162′ with ’163′, and this promo is still pretty damn relevant. / Props: TheSuperactiontv)

Anthony Pettis‘s divisional line-cutting has apparently angered the vengeful MMA Gods, who have struck down the crowd-pleasing striker with a knee injury. UFC president Dana White just confirmed the bad news, saying that Pettis is officially out of his scheduled featherweight title fight against Jose Aldo, which was slated to go down at UFC 163, August 3rd at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Pettis described the injury as a “small tear in my meniscus,” but didn’t give a specific timetable on his return.

So that’s the bad news. The good news is, Pettis has already been replaced by a title-challenger who’s actually earned a crack at the 145-pound belt: Chan Sung Jung, better known to us Westerners as “The Korean Zombie.” Jung was originally scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas in a likely #1 contender bout at UFC 162 next month, but has now been fast-tracked to a title fight in order to rescue the UFC 163 main event.

“TKZ” is 3-0 in the UFC, with incredible stoppage victories against Leonard Garcia (via twister submission), Mark Hominick (via seven-second KO), and Dustin Poirier (via d’arce choke, in a Fight of the Year candidate last May).

So who’s your pick in Aldo vs. Zombie? And is this a more interesting matchup to you than Aldo vs. Pettis?

Injury Knocks Gunnar Nelson Out of UFC 160; Rick Story to Replace Against Mike Pyle


(And here’s Nelson choking out DaMarques Johnson in his UFC debut and not giving a damn about it one way or the other. / Photo by James Law for FightDay.com)

The UFC’s most promising (and most eerily emotionless) welterweight prospect has just experienced an important rite of passage — his first injury withdrawal. As confirmed by UFC officials, Icelandic grappling phenom Gunnar Nelson will be unable to meet Mike Pyle at UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2, scheduled for May 25th in Las Vegas. According to Gunnar’s father/manager Haraldur Nelson, it’s a knee injury that will require surgery. A timetable for his return hasn’t been announced.

Injuries have actually plagued both of Nelson’s previous UFC fights. His first win in the Octagon came against DaMarques Johnson, who was replacing the injured Pascal Krauss. Nelson’s second win came against Jorge Santiago, who was replacing the injured Justin Edwards. And now, the UFC Injury Demon has gone from teasing Nelson to actually taking a chunk out of his ass, so to speak.

Replacing Nelson against Pyle at UFC 160 will be Rick Story, who most recently TKO’d Strikeforce/KOTC standout Quinn Mulhern at UFC 158 last month. Pyle is coming off a superb 2012 during which he scored first-round KO/TKOs of Ricardo Funch, Josh Neer, and James Head. Pyle vs. Story is expected to be on the FX portion of the 5/25 card.


(And here’s Nelson choking out DaMarques Johnson in his UFC debut and not giving a damn about it one way or the other. / Photo by James Law for FightDay.com)

The UFC’s most promising (and most eerily emotionless) welterweight prospect has just experienced an important rite of passage — his first injury withdrawal. As confirmed by UFC officials, Icelandic grappling phenom Gunnar Nelson will be unable to meet Mike Pyle at UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2, scheduled for May 25th in Las Vegas. According to Gunnar’s father/manager Haraldur Nelson, it’s a knee injury that will require surgery. A timetable for his return hasn’t been announced.

Injuries have actually plagued both of Nelson’s previous UFC fights. His first win in the Octagon came against DaMarques Johnson, who was replacing the injured Pascal Krauss. Nelson’s second win came against Jorge Santiago, who was replacing the injured Justin Edwards. And now, the UFC Injury Demon has gone from teasing Nelson to actually taking a chunk out of his ass, so to speak.

Replacing Nelson against Pyle at UFC 160 will be Rick Story, who most recently TKO’d Strikeforce/KOTC standout Quinn Mulhern at UFC 158 last month. Pyle is coming off a superb 2012 during which he scored first-round KO/TKOs of Ricardo Funch, Josh Neer, and James Head. Pyle vs. Story is expected to be on the FX portion of the 5/25 card.