The Revolving Door Created By UFC Injuries
By Michael Hatamoto
The UFC is in the fight business, so it’s detrimental when so many injuries ruin appealing matchups aimed at creating division contenders.
A scheduled Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch title fight was postponed when featherweight champion Aldo suffered an injury. Instead of a title fight with a budding UFC superstar, the UFC 149 headliner has been replaced by Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao – which should be a fun fight – but not enough to help draw in new fans.
Speaking of Faber, he was supposed to be matched up against Dominick Cruz in a bantamweight title rematch. They first fought at UFC 132 last July, when Cruz defended his championship by beating Faber via unanimous decision.
Vitor Belfort was supposed to compete against Wanderlei Silva in a grudge match, but Belfort broke his hand and had to be scrapped from the fight. Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin stepped up and will instead face Silva in a rematch, as Belfort waits for his chance to punch Silva in the face.
Welterweight contender Jon Fitch was supposed to fight Aaron Simpson at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman, but suffered a knee injury that forced him out of the fight. Simpson will now face Kenny Robertson, in a clash that has clearly lost a lot of its appeal.
Michael Bisping was supposed to fight Tim Boetsch in a middleweight contender matchup, but the UFC booked Hector Lombard vs. Boetsch instead. Bisping also mentioned how he has trained and fought injured in the past, but says it’s very possible fighters are training too hard during workouts.
UFC President Dana White urged his fighters to tone it down during their training camps, with fighters likely trying to closely mimic fight night intensity. However, this type of physical abuse can only be tolerated so long, and their bodies begin to show the wear and tear of these harder workouts.