Tag: knee injuries

‘No Love’ No More: Rich Clementi Retires From MMA Due to Injuries Suffered in Bellator Loss


(Clementi tangles with Melvin Guillard at UFC 79, a fight that concluded with an infamous rear-naked teabagging. Photo via CombatLifestyle.com)

After a 13-year, 68-fight professional MMA career, lightweight grappling specialist Rich “No Love” Clementi announced on Monday that he has retired from competition. Best known for his ten-fight stint in the UFC and appearance on TUF 4, Clementi most recently competed in Bellator’s Season 7 Lightweight Tournament, where he lost a toe-hold war to Marcin Held in the semis last Friday. And according to this Sherdog report, the aftermath of Clementi’s loss to Held was the biggest motivating factor in his decision to walk away from the sport:

Clementi told Sherdog.com that his left ankle had been injured for about two years before Held cranked on it in both the first and second rounds, with the final submission attempt also damaging his knee. Clementi recently underwent an MRI and says he will need to undergo surgery to repair the damage.

“My tendons are ripped on the outside of my foot, and because they have been stretched for so long, my socket is pitted and will have to be filled and repaired, as well,” Clementi told Sherdog. “I didn’t know, but I also found out I had ACL failure on the knee I had surgery on a few years back. [I will have a] 12- to 14-month recovery.”


(Clementi tangles with Melvin Guillard at UFC 79, a fight that concluded with an infamous rear-naked teabagging. Photo via CombatLifestyle.com)

After a 13-year, 68-fight professional MMA career, lightweight grappling specialist Rich “No Love” Clementi announced on Monday that he has retired from competition. Best known for his ten-fight stint in the UFC and appearance on TUF 4, Clementi most recently competed in Bellator’s Season 7 Lightweight Tournament, where he lost a toe-hold war to Marcin Held in the semis last Friday. According to this Sherdog report, the aftermath of Clementi’s loss to Held was the biggest motivating factor in his decision to walk away from the sport:

Clementi told Sherdog.com that his left ankle had been injured for about two years before Held cranked on it in both the first and second rounds, with the final submission attempt also damaging his knee. Clementi recently underwent an MRI and says he will need to undergo surgery to repair the damage.

“My tendons are ripped on the outside of my foot, and because they have been stretched for so long, my socket is pitted and will have to be filled and repaired, as well,” Clementi told Sherdog. “I didn’t know, but I also found out I had ACL failure on the knee I had surgery on a few years back. [I will have a] 12- to 14-month recovery.”

 “I am very excited to see what the future has in store for me,” Clementi continued. “I will update my condition when my MRI comes back. [My doctor] said my body has been around the block a few times. I can only smile.”

A native of Louisiana, Clementi’s 45-22-1 pro record reflects a fighter who repeatedly pushed through adversity, and refused to play it safe. After kicking off his career with a uninspiring 4-6 run in regional promotions, Clementi turned his fortunes around with nine consecutive stoppage victories, earning his first invite to the UFC. Unfortunately, he would be choked out by Yves Edwards at UFC 41 in February 2003, and didn’t show up in the Octagon again until the “Comeback” season of The Ultimate Fighter, as part of a team that took his nickname as their own.

Clementi went on to become a regular fixture in the UFC lightweight division, putting together a brilliant four-fight stretch in 2007-2008 where he submitted Anthony Johnson and Melvin Guillard, and won decisions over Sam Stout and Terry Etim. But back-to-back losses to Gray Maynard and Gleison Tibau led to his UFC release in early 2009.

Since then, Clementi has competed for a host of promotions, including King of the Cage, DREAM, Superior Challenge, Score Fighting Series, Titan FC, and Bellator — with mixed results. After suffering notable losses to Reza Madadi, Shinya Aoki, Chris Clements in 2011, Clementi’s entry into this year’s Bellator lightweight tourney looked like his last shot at a career rebirth. With nagging knee and ankle injuries and a long road to recovery in front of him, “No Love” is making the right decision to hang up the gloves. Thanks for the memories, Rich.

Shane Carwin, Gray Maynard Both Pull Out of December Fights Due to Knee Injuries


(In a related story, Roy Nelson was recently diagnosed with advanced dickdo disease.)

Well, we saw this one coming a mile away. After suffering a “minor knee injury” back in September, Shane Carwin has now pulled out of his scheduled fight against Roy Nelson at the TUF 16 Finale on December 15th, due to a knee injury that may or may not be related to the last one. UFC president Dana White confirmed the bad news last night, and said that the promotion is looking for a new opponent for Nelson.

It’s a terrible setback for Carwin, who hasn’t competed snce June 2011 due to a series of neck and back surgeries, and was already forced to drop out of a fight with Nelson at UFC 125. Carwin hasn’t won a fight since his knockout of Frank Mir in March 2010, and at age 37, his competitive days are running out. There’s no word yet on the severity of Shane’s injury, or when he might return to action.

And by the way, this means that five of the last seven U.S. seasons of TUF — 10, 11, 13, 15, and now 16 — as well as one of the two international seasons (TUF Brazil), have ended with the coaches’ fight being canceled or delayed. Spooky. We’ll let you know when Roy Nelson picks up his replacement opponent. Our suggestion: How about Pat Barry, who’s already booked on the card against Shane Del Rosario?

And hey, speaking of UFC stars who have to pull out of fights next month due to knee injuries…


(In a related story, Roy Nelson was recently diagnosed with advanced dickdo disease.)

Well, we saw this one coming a mile away. After suffering a “minor knee injury” back in September, Shane Carwin has now pulled out of his scheduled fight against Roy Nelson at the TUF 16 Finale on December 15th, due to a knee injury that may or may not be related to the last one. UFC president Dana White confirmed the bad news last night, and said that the promotion is looking for a new opponent for Nelson.

It’s a terrible setback for Carwin, who hasn’t competed since June 2011 due to a series of neck and back surgeries, and was already forced to drop out of a fight with Nelson at UFC 125. Carwin hasn’t won a fight since his knockout of Frank Mir in March 2010, and at age 37, his competitive days are running out. There’s no word yet on the severity of Shane’s injury, or when he might return to action.

And by the way, this means that five of the last seven U.S. seasons of TUF — 10, 11, 13, 15, and now 16 — as well as one of the two international seasons (TUF Brazil), have ended with the coaches’ fight being canceled or delayed. Spooky. We’ll let you know when Roy Nelson picks up his replacement opponent. Our suggestion: How about Pat Barry, who’s already booked on the card against Shane Del Rosario?

And hey, speaking of UFC stars who have to pull out of fights next month due to knee injuries…

It was also confirmed yesterday that lightweight contender Gray Maynard recently caught a knee injury in training that will prevent him from meeting Joe Lauzon at UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II, December 29th in Las Vegas. According to Maynard’s manager, the Bully suffered tears in both the medial and lateral meniscus in his knee, and will undergo surgery next week. His recovery time is only expected to be three-to-five weeks before he can resume training. Maynard’s last appearance was that weird split-decision over Clay Guida in June.

Stepping in to replace Maynard against Lauzon will be Jim Miller, who will attempt to rebound from his submission loss to Nate Diaz in May. Better than nothing, I guess. The current lineup of UFC 155 looks like this…

Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez
Forrest Griffin vs. Phil Davis
Tim Boetsch vs. Chris Weidman
Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami
Chris Leben vs. Karlos Vemola
Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland
Phil De Fries vs. Matt Mitrione
Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury
Leonard Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie
Byron Bloodworth vs. Erik Perez

[UFC 154 VIDEO] Georges St. Pierre to Carlos Condit on His Repaired Knee: Come and Get It

Some of you may have heard of a lil’ MMA fight that’s set to take place next month between the UFC’s interim welterweight champion and some French joker named Georges St. Pierre. GSP has been out of action since successfully defending his belt against Jake Shields in April of 2011 due to multiple knee injuries. Finally, on November 17th, the longtime champ is scheduled to make his return at UFC 154 after undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery and taking the necessary months to recover. In case Carlos Condit is thinking about going after St. Pierre’s newly-recuperated knee, “Rush” has a simple message for his opponent.

“I hope that Condit focuses on targeting my knee. Its not a weak link anymore,” he says in the above UFC video.

“There’s nothing that I can’t do now that I wasn’t able to do. I will leave with the belt.”

Some of you may have heard of a lil’ MMA fight that’s set to take place next month between the UFC’s interim welterweight champion and some French joker named Georges St. Pierre. GSP has been out of action since successfully defending his belt against Jake Shields in April of 2011 due to multiple knee injuries. Finally, on November 17th, the longtime champ is scheduled to make his return at UFC 154 after undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery and taking the necessary months to recover. In case Carlos Condit is thinking about going after St. Pierre’s newly-recuperated knee, “Rush” has a simple message for his opponent.

“I hope that Condit focuses on targeting my knee. Its not a weak link anymore,” he says in the above UFC video.

“There’s nothing that I can’t do now that I wasn’t able to do. I will leave with the belt.”

St. Pierre goes on to give his usual spiel about his next opponent being the best one he’s ever faced — a practice he’s kept up ever since getting upset by Matt Serra in April 2007 — but he brings up some legit points about Condit. The odds may be against “The Natural Born Killer” when he fights GSP but, as the Canadian says, Condit truly is a versatile fighter capable of coming up with and executing different game plans depending on who he is fighting. (Sound familiar?) It should also be noted that Condit has legit KO power — he stopped Dan Hardy cold, for example, whereas GSP couldn’t finish the Brit over five rounds.

What do you think, nation? Is GSP bluffing or will his knee hold up to any kicking or other attacks that Condit may throw his way? And do you think it makes sense for a fighter to design their game plan around an opponent’s injury?

Bonus fight-hype: This tasty St. Pierre vs. Condit promo reel from jhazizi21.

– Elias Cepeda

Despite What “Rampage” Jackson Says, Linear Knee Strikes Are Much Ado About Nothing


(Who knew keeping your back against the cage was effective defense? This kept Vitor’s knee from ending up like Willis McGahee. Pic Props:Ryan Kightlinger)

By Jason Moles

Yesterday on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, your all too friendly, neighborhood reporter-humping, cage fighter made an appearance. And, as per usual, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson left the MMA world with a lot to talk about after withdrawing from UFC 153 and using TRT to trading verbal jabs and “F*ck you!”‘s with former TUF 10 contestant, Matt Mitrione. What was more notable from the interview was Jackson’s criticism of light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his dirty, dirty knee kicks.

Vitor took the fight on short notice, and this is how you respect him, by kicking his knee backwards and stuff like that? He’s supposed to be a man of God. You can injure somebody, you can sever their career. You can mess people up for life kicking their knee back like that and he does it repeatedly, over and over. To me that has no honor. I take a lot of honor in fighting. He has no honor.

The former Pride and UFC champion went on to question why the athletic commission even allow “stuff like that” to be legal, arguing that if Jones keeps fighting dirty like this, he’ll put everyone on the shelf and won’t have anyone left to fight. As it would turn out, he’s not alone. TheScore.com’s Adam Martin took to twitter to voice his displeasure of the use of linear kicks to the knee as well and reminded his followers that the CSAC already bans the technique.


(Who knew keeping your back against the cage was effective defense? This kept Vitor’s knee from ending up like Willis McGahee. Pic Props:Ryan Kightlinger)

By Jason Moles

Yesterday on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, your all too friendly, neighborhood reporter-humping, cage fighter made an appearance. And, as per usual, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson left the MMA world with a lot to talk about after withdrawing from UFC 153 and using TRT to trading verbal jabs and “F*ck you!”‘s with former TUF 10 contestant, Matt Mitrione. What was more notable from the interview was Jackson’s criticism of light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his dirty, dirty knee kicks.

Vitor took the fight on short notice, and this is how you respect him, by kicking his knee backwards and stuff like that? He’s supposed to be a man of God. You can injure somebody, you can sever their career. You can mess people up for life kicking their knee back like that and he does it repeatedly, over and over. To me that has no honor. I take a lot of honor in fighting. He has no honor.

The former Pride and UFC champion went on to question why the athletic commission even allow “stuff like that” to be legal, arguing that if Jones keeps fighting dirty like this, he’ll put everyone on the shelf and won’t have anyone left to fight. As it would turn out, he’s not alone. TheScore.com’s Adam Martin took to twitter to voice his displeasure of the use of linear kicks to the knee as well and reminded his followers that the CSAC already bans the technique.

Just because one state bans something doesn’t make it a good decision (yeah, I’m looking at you New York!). Remember the craziness surrounding the Adlan Amagov/Keith Barry fight on the undercard at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman? Never would’ve happened if everyone fought under the Unified Rules – which allow linear kicks to the knee – but I digress.

You remember when Kenny Florian was in a bloodbath or two and some people wanted to ban elbows? It’s the same argument all over again. All opposed complain that the usefulness of the strike in question is limited and is simply doing more cosmetic damage or causing career altering injuries than actually getting the fighter closer to victory via traditional methods like a knockout or submission. Conversely, all proponents of the (mostly) legal tactics point to their effectiveness at rocking opponents or allowing a fighter to keep an opponent at bay.

Question: Who doesn’t like razor sharp elbows or discombobulating knee strikes? Answer: Anyone who has ever faced a fighter who used them and couldn’t find a way to stop them. Here’s another question for you: What makes the type of kick Jon Jones utilized against “Shogun” Rua and Vitor Belfort (let’s not forget Carlos Condit using them recently as well) any more dangerous than a heel hook? After seeing an injury like this, are you going to tell me you’re more worried about some dinosaur’s knee because of a simple kick? Didn’t think so.

I’m convinced there will always be percentage of the population that fully embodies the “Just Bleed” mentality. The idea that mixed martial arts is little more than a glorified street fight fuels their desire to see defenseless grounded fighters have their face caved in with a devastating knee to the mouth. These people crave gratuitous violence and if given their druthers, would award fighter’s bonuses for soccer kicking their opponents head into the crowd like a Mortal Kombat fatality. These people would set the sport back a decade if they ran the athletic commissions.

Supporting the tactical use of certain attacks, however “dirty” others may perceive them to be, does not qualify you as one of those people.

Watching world-class athletes square off in the Octagon to test their skills is not for everyone, after all it is still (for the most part) two guys balling up their fists trying to punch each other’s lights out. But if it is for you, there are far more threatening problems facing fighters today than the type of kick Jon Jones used against Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on Saturday night. It’s time we realize fighters are going to get hurt from time to time and more often than not, the injury will occur long before his music hits the speakers. Stop worrying about guys getting jacked up during a fight and focus more on keeping him from getting sidelined during practice. (Yes, we’re talking about practice.)

Say it Ain’t So: Circulating Rumors Claim Dan Henderson Out of UFC 151 With Knee Injury [UPDATED]


(You see this move, right here? PUSSY MAGNET.) 

There’s been a lot of talk regarding Jon Jones, Dan Henderson, and GOATS around here lately, but if any of the rumors circulating Twitter right now have any truth to them, we might just have to put that discussion on hold for a while. And although tweets from random sources don’t constitute truth, the sheer volume of them that have been sent out claiming that Henderson has suffered a knee injury in training are making us feel sick to our stomachs nonetheless. Take a look for yourselves:

Kenny Florian ?@kennyflorian
Hearing that we may have some disappointed @UFC fans soon due to some unfortunate circumstances for an upcoming card

Luke Thomas ?@SBNLukeThomas
@KCBanditMMA @jamiekilstein if what I’m hearing is correct, it’s so much worse than what is even being rumored on Twitter.

 Luke Thomas ?@SBNLukeThomas
@Jdiddy381 @KCBanditMMA @jamiekilstein again, I’m not talking about Hendo’s health when I say the matter is ‘worse’. Relax, people.

Jeremy Botter ?@jeremybotter
If what I’m hearing is correct, UFC 151 may be in desperate need of a main event. And that sucks.

Matt Lindland ?@mattlindland
Rumor? @MattHawryluk94: @tarecfighter rumor is Hendo is out with a knee injury, please tell me it is not true!

FrontRowBrian FrontRowBrian ?@FrontRowBrian
Rumor going around Hendo was injured by Thierry Sokoudjou at some point in this camp. Appears he’ll press on.. if he has to crawl to cage. 
Someone described the brace Hendo is wearing as a “Stone Cold Steve Austin brace”.

Again, we’re not writing this without first understanding the power of rumor, but considering some of the sources (Kenny Florian, Luke Thomas), we might be looking at either a severely hampered Hendo come next Saturday, or no Hendo at all. And who do you think the UFC would replace him with on such short notice? Surely not this guy, right? Or are all the pieces of our conspiracy puzzle falling into place exactly according to plan? MWAHAHAHAHA!!


(You see this move, right here? PUSSY MAGNET.) 

There’s been a lot of talk regarding Jon Jones, Dan Henderson, and GOATS around here lately, but if any of the rumors circulating Twitter right now have any truth to them, we might just have to put that discussion on hold for a while. And although tweets from random sources don’t constitute truth, the sheer volume of them that have been sent out claiming that Henderson has suffered a knee injury in training are making us feel sick to our stomachs nonetheless. Take a look for yourselves:

Kenny Florian ?@kennyflorian
Hearing that we may have some disappointed @UFC fans soon due to some unfortunate circumstances for an upcoming card

Luke Thomas ?@SBNLukeThomas
@KCBanditMMA @jamiekilstein if what I’m hearing is correct, it’s so much worse than what is even being rumored on Twitter.

 Luke Thomas ?@SBNLukeThomas
@Jdiddy381 @KCBanditMMA @jamiekilstein again, I’m not talking about Hendo’s health when I say the matter is ‘worse’. Relax, people.

Jeremy Botter ?@jeremybotter
If what I’m hearing is correct, UFC 151 may be in desperate need of a main event. And that sucks.

Matt Lindland ?@mattlindland
Rumor? @MattHawryluk94: @tarecfighter rumor is Hendo is out with a knee injury, please tell me it is not true!

FrontRowBrian FrontRowBrian ?@FrontRowBrian
Rumor going around Hendo was injured by Thierry Sokoudjou at some point in this camp. Appears he’ll press on.. if he has to crawl to cage. 
Someone described the brace Hendo is wearing as a “Stone Cold Steve Austin brace”.

Again, we’re not writing this without first understanding the power of rumor, but considering some of the sources (Kenny Florian, Luke Thomas), we might be looking at either a severely hampered Hendo come next Saturday, or no Hendo at all. And who do you think the UFC would replace him with on such short notice? Surely not this guy, right? Or are all the pieces of our conspiracy puzzle falling into place exactly according to plan? MWAHAHAHAHA!!

Of course, according to Hendo’s latest tweets, everything seems to be running smoothly…

Dan Henderson ?@danhendo
Just got done with a great training session with the boys. @CyrilleDiabate @tarecfighter @heathlsims @RFBJJ @rockholdMMA

Dan Henderson ?@danhendo
Headed to the house to get worked on by @msmariahv to finish of the day happy.

It should be known that @msmariahv is a “massage therapist for extreme sports athletes.” We’re not sure how a Hendo handjo is going to be a cure-all for a busted knee if that is truly the case, but then again, Henderson is basically as tough as all of our dads put together, so if all he needs is a happy ending to compete, someone better make that shit happen.

Ariel Helwani, on the other hand, possesses a level of Twitter trend awareness that is simply unmatched by his counterparts:

Ariel Helwani ?@arielhelwani
Every person attached to that Hendo tweet promptly retweeted it in some form moments later. Impressive.

Impressive indeed. Could this be a last ditch effort by Hendo’s camp to dispel the rumor before it gains too much steam? If so, they have clearly failed, as every MMA site imaginable has already posted something regarding this rumor by now. But like we said, they are simply rumors, and we will keep you informed as the story develops.

[UPDATE] 1 p.m. EST

Well, this isn’t looking good. According to Ariel Helwani (via Twitter, of course) Dana White is holding a conference call at 2 p.m. EST “regarding the fate of UFC 151.” 

–J. Jones

Anderson Silva Plans to Fight Through Knee Injury Against Chael Sonnen at UFC 148


(Sources indicate that Silva’s knee buckled during an intense set of supermodel-lunges.)

According to Tatame, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has confirmed that he suffered a minor knee injury in training, about six weeks out from his rematch with arch-rival Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas). Silva later tweeted that his knee is feeling fine and it won’t stop him from settling his obligation with Sonnen.

Silva’s injury brings a discomforting sense of deja vu. After Chael inexplicably won the first four-and-a-half rounds from Silva during their first meeting in August 2010, Silva’s manager Ed Soares blamed his lackluster performance on a recent rib injury. Silva vs. Sonnen 2 originally held such promise for the champ; if Silva was 100% healthy and fighting in front of his countrymen, Sonnen was a dead man walking, guaranteed. Then the fight was moved, and this knee thing happened. Will we be looking at another tough five-round grind for the Spider?


(Sources indicate that Silva’s knee buckled during an intense set of supermodel-lunges.)

According to Tatame, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has confirmed that he suffered a minor knee injury in training, about six weeks out from his rematch with arch-rival Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas). Silva later tweeted that his knee is feeling fine and it won’t stop him from settling his obligation with Sonnen.

Silva’s injury brings a discomforting sense of deja vu. After Chael inexplicably won the first four-and-a-half rounds from Silva during their first meeting in August 2010, Silva’s manager Ed Soares blamed his lackluster performance on a recent rib injury. Silva vs. Sonnen 2 originally held such promise for the champ; if Silva was 100% healthy and fighting in front of his countrymen, Sonnen was a dead man walking, guaranteed. Then the fight was moved, and this knee thing happened. Will we be looking at another tough five-round grind for the Spider?