(#TheTimeIsNow…to throw this poster in the damn garbage pile.)
While we at CagePotato decided to take the day off yesterday to spend time with our children, the UFC injury plague was hard at work on January 1st, steady knockin’ fighters off of main cards. Here’s the latest casualty list…
– UFC welterweight Tarec Saffiedine has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled UFC Fight Night 60 main event against Matt Brown on February 14th due to a groin injury. The UFC will have to hustle to find a decent replacement opponent for Brown, because no other fight on the lineup screams “headliner.” We’re not trying to be a dick or anything, but when your event is so weak that a Tarec Saffiedine injury destroys it, maybe you deserve whatever happens to you?
(#TheTimeIsNow…to throw this poster in the damn garbage pile.)
While we at CagePotato decided to take the day off yesterday to spend time with our children, the UFC injury plague was hard at work on January 1st, steady knockin’ fighters off of main cards. Here’s the latest casualty list…
– UFC welterweight Tarec Saffiedine has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled UFC Fight Night 60 main event against Matt Brown on February 14th due to a groin injury. The UFC will have to hustle to find a decent replacement opponent for Brown, because no other fight on the lineup screams “headliner.” We’re not trying to be a dick or anything, but when your event is so weak that a Tarec Saffiedine injury destroys it, maybe you deserve whatever happens to you?
Holm’s injury is a setback for the UFC bantamweight division, as she was being groomed as a potential threat to untouchable champion Ronda Rousey. There is no current timetable for Holm’s return. The former boxing champion has been inactive from MMA competition since April, due to a broken arm suffered in her last fight.
In retrospect, it’s kind of a crazy that Holm was booked to fight Pennington in the first place. Anyway, UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler 2 goes down December 6th in Las Vegas, and still features a bunch of good fights. For now, at least…
Holm’s injury is a setback for the UFC bantamweight division, as she was being groomed as a potential threat to untouchable champion Ronda Rousey. There is no current timetable for Holm’s return. The former boxing champion has been inactive from MMA competition since April, due to a broken arm suffered in her last fight.
In retrospect, it’s kind of a crazy that Holm was booked to fight Pennington in the first place. Anyway, UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler 2 goes down December 6th in Las Vegas, and still features a bunch of good fights. For now, at least…
(“Ay man, ain’t you that UFC fighter Rashard Lewis er somethin’? The name’s Johny, but m’friends call me Cooter. Wanna go out back and blow up some frogs?” / Photo via Getty)
Evans suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. The normal turn around time for this time of injury is usually 10 months to a year.
Evans was progressing well in his recovery and rehabilitation, but a hard week of training to make the final push into a decision about accepting the fight or not didn’t go his way.
According to UFC Tonight reporter Ariel Helwani who spoke to Evans this week, his knee is still not 100-percent and coming back as early as January wouldn’t be prudent to his long term success.
(“Ay man, ain’t you that UFC fighter Rashard Lewis er somethin’? The name’s Johny, but m’friends call me Cooter. Wanna go out back and blow up some frogs?” / Photo via Getty)
Evans suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage. The normal turn around time for this time of injury is usually 10 months to a year.
Evans was progressing well in his recovery and rehabilitation, but a hard week of training to make the final push into a decision about accepting the fight or not didn’t go his way.
According to UFC Tonight reporter Ariel Helwani who spoke to Evans this week, his knee is still not 100-percent and coming back as early as January wouldn’t be prudent to his long term success.
Evans said his knee still felt unstable and he wasn’t able to explode like he normally would if his leg was completely healthy. With the minor setback, Evans is now anticipating a March return to the Octagon.
Alexander Gustafsson still hopes to fight in January or February, although his opponent is uncertain. One possibility being floated is Anthony Johnson, if he’s ever removed from the indefinite suspension that the UFC has him on related to recent allegations of domestic violence. According to Helwani, a decision on Johnson’s future should be made by UFC officials soon.
Okay, so maybe there’s a bright side. But still…is it too late to move this damn card north to San Diego or something? Because at the moment, the biggest Mexican star on the lineup is Kelvin Gastelum, for God’s sake. Bad times.
Okay, so maybe there’s a bright side. But still…is it too late to move this damn card north to San Diego or something? Because at the moment, the biggest Mexican star on the lineup is Kelvin Gastelum, for God’s sake. Bad times.
Sanchez’s appearance at UFC 180 is now up in the air. We’ll let you know if the UFC can find another white guy for him to fight on short notice. Oh, and remember how Goyito Perez was supposed to be on this card too? Well, not anymore. UFC 182 has gone from a showcase of Mexican talent to a Samoan fighting a Brazilian and a bunch of local TUF-guys with funnynicknames. Dios mio. Our suggestion: List Jessica Eye as Jessica ¡Aye! Yeah, I got nothin’.
Sanchez’s appearance at UFC 180 is now up in the air. We’ll let you know if the UFC can find another white guy for him to fight on short notice. Oh, and remember how Goyito Perez was supposed to be on this card too? Well, not anymore. UFC 182 has gone from a showcase of Mexican talent to a Samoan fighting a Brazilian and a bunch of local TUF-guys with funnynicknames. Dios mio. Our suggestion: List Jessica Eye as Jessica ¡Aye! Yeah, I got nothin’.
The injury is especially devastating for the UFC because Velasquez was slated to be the marquee face for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico, which goes down November 15th in Mexico City. Here’s what Velasquez had to say about his withdrawal in an official statement:
“I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.”
Velasquez hasn’t competed since his 5th-round TKO of Junior Dos Santos last October. This is the part of the blog post where normally I would recap all of the injuries that have befallen Velasquez during his time in the UFC, but I’ll just embed this tweet and spare myself the effort:
The injury is especially devastating for the UFC because Velasquez was slated to be the marquee face for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico, which goes down November 15th in Mexico City. Here’s what Velasquez had to say about his withdrawal in an official statement:
“I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.”
Velasquez hasn’t competed since his 5th-round TKO of Junior Dos Santos last October. This is the part of the blog post where normally I would recap all of the injuries that have befallen Velasquez during his time in the UFC, but I’ll just embed this tweet and spare myself the effort:
Mark Hunt comes into his first UFC title fight with a 1-1-1 tally over his last three bouts, and most recently knocked out Roy Nelson last month at UFC Fight Night 52 in Saitama.
As Mike Bohn reminds us, Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum is now the ninth scheduled UFC pay-per-view headliner of 2014 to fall apart. Basically, every UFC champion is injured or has been injured at some point during this year except for Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw, who aren’tdraws on pay-per-view.
