(“Brett, your x-rays came back and I have to tell you, the results are…grim. Ha ha, sorry, couldn’t help myself.” Image via MiddleEasy)
When Brett Rogers was stopped by Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett during his Strikeforce run in 2009-2011, it just seemed like a case of a good slugger being outmatched by three legends of the sport. But when he was dominated for three rounds by relatively unheralded Russian prospect Alexander Volkov at last Friday’s Bellator show, the loss wasn’t as easy to dismiss. Was this proof that Rogers was washed up?
As it turns out, Brett had a good reason for looking so tentative throughout the fight. I mean, damn, just look at that friggin’ x-ray. Here’s what he had to say to MiddleEasy about trying to fight though a cracked arm:
(“Brett, your x-rays came back and I have to tell you, the results are…grim. Ha ha, sorry, couldn’t help myself.” Image via MiddleEasy)
When Brett Rogers was stopped by Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett during his Strikeforce run in 2009-2011, it just seemed like a case of a good slugger being outmatched by three legends of the sport. But when he was dominated for three rounds by relatively unheralded Russian prospect Alexander Volkov at last Friday’s Bellator show, the loss wasn’t as easy to dismiss. Was this proof that Rogers was washed up?
As it turns out, Brett had a good reason for looking so tentative throughout the fight. I mean, damn, just look at that friggin’ x-ray. Here’s what he had to say to MiddleEasy about trying to fight though a cracked arm:
I was really unsure of what happened to my arm. I didn’t really know until about the third round that it was broken. I’ve never broke anything on my body before, so I just kept I kept going. I thought I needed to keep fighting. By the time I found out that it was, I just felt that I needed to keep going and hopefully catch him with something — catch him with that left.
I’ve never broken anything. It was a surreal moment for me. I was like fuck — something ain’t right. I need to keep going with this and hope for the best. Volkov definitely realized by the third round that something wasn’t right, so he was trying to test me out from top to bottom. By the time we found it, it was just a little too late.
I did my part as far as surviving and making to it to the decision. That still is not a fight that I ever want to fight. I never want to have that type of fight again. Ever.
And he might not get a chance to have that type of fight for a while. With a nasty injury and a quick exit from the Bellator heavyweight tournament, it’s unclear when we’ll see the Grim back in action. Such a shame — hasn’t this man suffered enough?
(Between the facial hair and the t-shirt, the dude was kind of asking for it. / Photo via @RockholdMMA)
Strikeforce’s already-struggling November 3rd event just lost a title fight. Multiple sources have reported that middleweight champ Luke Rockhold recently suffered a wrist injury, and has withdrawn from his scheduled belt-defense against Lorenz Larkin next month in Oklahoma City.
The supporting bouts still scheduled for the card include Jorge Masvidal vs. Bobby Green, Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith, and Sara McMann vs. Liz Carmouche. We’ll update you when Strikeforce figures out what the hell its going to do. Our suggestion: Put the remaining fights on Showtime Extreme, and use the original timeslot for Gigolos reruns.
(Between the facial hair and the t-shirt, the dude was kind of asking for it. / Photo via @RockholdMMA)
Strikeforce’s already-struggling November 3rd event just lost a title fight. Multiple sources have reported that middleweight champ Luke Rockhold recently suffered a wrist injury, and has withdrawn from his scheduled belt-defense against Lorenz Larkin next month in Oklahoma City.
The supporting bouts still scheduled for the card include Jorge Masvidal vs. Bobby Green, Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith, and Sara McMann vs. Liz Carmouche. We’ll update you when Strikeforce figures out what the hell its going to do. Our suggestion: Put the remaining fights on Showtime Extreme, and use the original timeslot for Gigolos reruns.
UFC officials haven’t yet confirmed whether they’ll be finding a replacement opponent for Gonzaga on the “Silva vs. Bonnar” card. As MMAJunkie suggests, Gonzaga would theoretically be available to serve as the replacement opponent for Daniel Cormier at the Strikeforce event on November 3rd, which would be better than nothing, I guess. We’ll update you when we know more.
UFC officials haven’t yet confirmed whether they’ll be finding a replacement opponent for Gonzaga on the “Silva vs. Bonnar” card. As MMAJunkie suggests, Gonzaga would theoretically be available to serve as the replacement opponent for Daniel Cormier at the Strikeforce event on November 3rd, which would be better than nothing, I guess. We’ll update you when we know more.
For the second consecutive month, Zuffa has canceled an event on very short notice due to one of the headliners pulling out with an injury. As confirmed in a press release on UFC.com, Gilbert Melendez suffered an injury in training, and was forced to withdraw from his lightweight title fight against Pat Healy at this Saturday’s Strikeforce show in Sacramento. As a result, the 9/29 card has been scratched altogether.
As with UFC 151, the relative weakness of the “Melendez vs. Healy” supporting card was surely a factor in the event’s cancelation. But what makes this situation unique is that Showtime essentially made the decision, not Strikeforce. From the press release:
Without the Melendez-Healy title bout, SHOWTIME®, which determines which fights are televised on the premium network, decided that it would not air Saturday’s scheduled event.
“When SHOWTIME informed us that it would not be airing the event, we made the difficult decision to cancel Saturday’s card in Sacramento,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “Without a television partner, we simply could not move forward with this event. We wish Gilbert a speedy recovery and will work diligently and quickly to reschedule the fighters affected by this news on upcoming cards.”
For the second consecutive month, Zuffa has canceled an event on very short notice due to one of the headliners pulling out with an injury. As confirmed in a press release on UFC.com, Gilbert Melendez suffered an injury in training, and was forced to withdraw from his lightweight title fight against Pat Healy at this Saturday’s Strikeforce show in Sacramento. As a result, the 9/29 card has been scratched altogether.
As with UFC 151, the relative weakness of the “Melendez vs. Healy” supporting card was surely a factor in the event’s cancelation. But what makes this situation unique is that Showtime essentially made the decision, not Strikeforce. From the press release:
Without the Melendez-Healy title bout, SHOWTIME®, which determines which fights are televised on the premium network, decided that it would not air Saturday’s scheduled event.
“When SHOWTIME informed us that it would not be airing the event, we made the difficult decision to cancel Saturday’s card in Sacramento,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “Without a television partner, we simply could not move forward with this event. We wish Gilbert a speedy recovery and will work diligently and quickly to reschedule the fighters affected by this news on upcoming cards.”
Refunds for tickets purchased are available at point of sale.
Some of the notable fighters who have just lost a paycheck thanks to this unfortunate turn of events include Josh Thomson, Jorge Santiago, Jorge Gurgel, and Mike Kyle. Strikeforce’s next show isn’t until November 3rd — the “Cormier vs. TBA” card that’s also been damaged by the current MMA injury epidemic. The promotion has no other events on the schedule.
On the bright side, the Strikeforce cancelation doesn’t mean we’ll be without MMA this weekend, as UFC on FUEL: Struve vs. Miocic is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT. See? Booking two events on the same day isn’t such a bad idea after all.
You’ve gotta feel for Mark Munoz. In the past year, the dude has suffered not only one of the most disgusting elbow injuries on record (see above), but one of the most brutal, not to mention late stoppages of the year at the hands and elbows of Chris Weidman (see below). And he did the latter while rocking one of the goofiest haircuts in MMA history.
And just when you thought that Munoz might be headed down the path of recovery and redemption, it appears that he could be out of action for an entire year to deal with a foot injury he suffered in preparation for the ass kicking he would receive courtesy of Weidman.
Talk about adding injury to insult.
Full story after the jump.
(Who ordered the mahi mahi?)
You’ve gotta feel for Mark Munoz. In the past year, the dude has suffered not only one of the most disgusting elbow injuries on record (see above), but one of the most brutal, not to mention late stoppages of the year at the hands and elbows of Chris Weidman (see below). And he did the latter while rocking one of the goofiest haircuts in MMA history.
And just when you thought that Munoz might be headed down the path of recovery and redemption, it appears that he could be out of action for an entire year to deal with a foot injury he suffered in preparation for the ass kicking he would receive courtesy of Weidman.
Talk about adding injury to insult.
Munoz revealed what little details he had regarding the injury to fighthubtv.com.
I hurt my foot training for the Weidman fight; I was training with Jason (Miller) inside the cage and my foot got caught. I am not sure if it is broken. I will be getting an official MRI tomorrow and I will know. I just hope they do not have to break it in order for it to heal properly as it has somewhat started to heal.
And just in case Munoz wasn’t feeling shitty enough, it turns out that he had to battle a hell of a staph infection following his loss to Weidman, one that spread from his knee to his forehead. Oh yeah, and that horrifying elbow injury is still not healed.
On staph: “I went to the doctor and he took a look at it. He gave me a weird look and brought out a needle and I felt stuff coming out. I am just glad I took care of it early.”
On his elbow: “When he (Weidman) was on top of me trying to get the guillotine I could feel that I did not have full motion in my elbow.”
So there you have it. Every waking moment in the life of Mark Munoz is nothing more than a Sisyphean struggle to overcome injuries that he will be forced to deal all over again once he reaches the figurative mountain top. With each breath comes agony. Life is pain. Life is only pain.
*throws on The Cure and closes the curtains*
Happy Friday, you pampered, privileged conformists.
(Jared Hamman attempts to pull a fast one on us all at UFC on FOX 4. AS IF we couldn’t tell that his leg was clearly photoshopped.)
Perhaps two-time Bellator middleweight tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko is just a little bitter that rival Hector Lombard vacated his former promotion (and a long-awaited rematch with Shlemenko) to compete in the UFC, or maybe “Storm” is just as tired of seeing all of the UFC cards he is ordering turn to shit as the rest of us. Whatever his end game may be, Shlemenko recently stated in an interview with ValeTudo.ru that he believed many of the injuries that have been plaguing the UFC as of late were more than likely faked by the fighters in order to get out of a fight that was not a good matchup for them. His primary example was Brian Stann:
I can tell you for sure, 100%, I know why there are so many injuries. I personally find UFC fights not as exciting because of all those injuries. There are a lot of background tactics around who’s fighting who; fighters are trying really hard to have a good record in the UFC. If you’ve been offered to fight someone who’s considered a bad match-up, then it’s pretty easy to say ‘hey, I’m injured’.
For example, they offered Brian Stann to fight Hector Lombard. He got injured, and then the next thing you know – he’s fighting Michael Bisping. I can see the logic – for Brian Stann it makes more sense to fight Bisping, he’s simply more popular in the UFC than Hector Lombard. That’s why beating Bisping means more than beating Lombard, who’s a risky opponent.
You can fake every injury. Just tell [UFC doctors] about the symptoms and that’s it.
God Damn it, Alex. Your love of centrifugal forces and general badassery made you one of our favorite fighters, but NO ONE accuses “All American” of ducking a fight. And considering the bullshit-laden excuse your boy Lombard gave usthree weeks after putting on one of the worst performances of the year, we’d say it’s a little presumptuous to start calling out other organizations fighters for sparing us a fifteen minute wet fart in advance.
After the jump: Stann’s response, as well as a video of Shlemenko’s most recent fight, which ends with an injury that is physically impossible to fake.
(Jared Hamman attempts to pull a fast one on us all at UFC on FOX 4. AS IF we couldn’t tell that his leg was clearly photoshopped.)
Perhaps two-time Bellator middleweight tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko is just a little bitter that rival Hector Lombard vacated his former promotion (and a long-awaited rematch with Shlemenko) to compete in the UFC, or maybe “Storm” is just as tired of seeing all of the UFC cards he is ordering turn to shit as the rest of us. Whatever his end game may be, Shlemenko recently stated in an interview with ValeTudo.ru that he believed many of the injuries that have been plaguing the UFC as of late were more than likely faked by the fighters in order to get out of a fight that was not a good matchup for them. His primary example was Brian Stann:
I can tell you for sure, 100%, I know why there are so many injuries. I personally find UFC fights not as exciting because of all those injuries. There are a lot of background tactics around who’s fighting who; fighters are trying really hard to have a good record in the UFC. If you’ve been offered to fight someone who’s considered a bad match-up, then it’s pretty easy to say ‘hey, I’m injured’.
For example, they offered Brian Stann to fight Hector Lombard. He got injured, and then the next thing you know – he’s fighting Michael Bisping. I can see the logic – for Brian Stann it makes more sense to fight Bisping, he’s simply more popular in the UFC than Hector Lombard. That’s why beating Bisping means more than beating Lombard, who’s a risky opponent.
You can fake every injury. Just tell [UFC doctors] about the symptoms and that’s it.
God Damn it, Alex. Your love of centrifugal forces and general badassery made you one of our favorite fighters, but NO ONE accuses “All American” of ducking a fight. And considering the bullshit-laden excuse your boy Lombard gave usthree weeks after putting on one of the worst performances of the year, we’d say it’s a little presumptuous to start calling out other organizations fighters for sparing us a fifteen minute wet fart in advance.
Per usual, Stann took the high road when responding to such an audacious claim on Twitter:
Shouldn’t even dignify todays comment w/ a response, but I would never fake an injury. I agreed to fight Hector b4 he was even signed.
My injury was a 6-8 week recovery & the UFC was not interested in delaying his debut to wait for me. Fighters dont fake injuries, we have to pay the bills guys!
Not too long ago, Elias attempted to decipher the reasoning behind the recent string of injuries the UFC has been facing, and concluded that more of the injuries could likely be written off as a result of strength training rather than intense sparring. And although Stann actually did injure his shoulder during a sparring session with UFC heavyweight Shawn Jordan, there is little reason to believe that he, along with most UFC fighters, would be willing to miss out on a paycheck to avoid a bad matchup. Most fighters live and die by the money they are able to come away with in the three or so fights they are able to squeeze in a year (if they’re lucky). And besides that, had Stann performed impressively against Lombard, it would have launched him onto the short list of contenders at 185, whereas a win over Bisping, while significant, would more or less confirm that “The Count” is simply not upper-echelon material. The Lombard fight was his to win, while the Bisping fight is mainly his to lose. Some of you will likely disagree with that notion, in which case I will tell thee to snuff it.
Speaking of injuries, Shlemenko was responsible for a nasty one in his unanimous decision win over Anthony Ruiz this past Saturday. Although Shlemenko didn’t exactly look his greatest, it was his first fight since getting into a car crash back in April, so we are willing to forgive him. Plus, he managed to smash Ruiz’s nose up something fierce, which is always fun to gawk at. On the Ryan McGillivray scale of broken noses, we’d give it about an 8.5.
(A good view of the carnage comes at 13:06, but FYI, Sensei Seagal and Oleg Taktarov make an appearance moments before. You’ll probably be excited to see at least one of them.)
