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Fitch out for 6 months.

2K views 32 replies 27 participants last post by  The_Senator 
#1 ·
They've sweat and bled together for years, and American Kickboxing Academy teammates Jon Fitch and Cain Velasquez now have another reason to commiserate.

Fitch learned Tuesday that a shoulder injury he sustained in a fight with B.J. Penn requires surgery and is likely to keep him out of action for up to six months.

Like Velasquez, who suffered a bad shoulder injury in his most recent outing, Fitch told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he hoped that physical therapy could get him through the problem before receiving word on Tuesday that he needs to go under the knife.

"I'm going to have to get the labrum worked on, and I also have a tear of one of the rotator cuff muscles that's going to need to be repaired, too," Fitch told MMAjunkie.com.

Fitch (23-3-1 MMA, 13-1-1 UFC) and Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC) fought to a majority draw this past February at UFC 127 in a fight that was supposed to crown the next title challenger at 170 pounds. Although Fitch dominated the third and final round of the fight, two of three judges felt he hadn't done enough to erase a lead earned by Penn in the first frame.

Fitch's healing process is expected to take three months. In the meantime, he said he plans to hang around the gym and attempt to be a "one-armed handyman" in the house he recently purchased. Fighting, though, is off the table for most of the year.

"It's functional," Fitch said. "I can move around and do stuff with it. I could probably even fight with it. But going through a camp and going through six-hour days of workouts, eventually it's going to break down.

"I don't think I would get through a full fight camp without it breaking down completely."

Fitch and Penn were slated to fight again at UFC 132 in July before Fitch withdrew from the fight in late March. Penn elected to reschedule his next contest and released a video that said a shoulder injury of his own caused him to bow out of the summer event.

When Fitch does return, he hopes to pick up where he left off with the rematch.

"It's the best fight for each of us," Fitch said. "I think it would be dumb for either of us to take a fight with anybody else but each other before we settle it. Either me or B.J. would love to just fight the winner of Jake (Shields) and [Georges St-Pierre]. But I think it's realistic that if Jake wins that fight, that there will be a rematch. And if GSP wins that fight, he only fights a couple times a year. So he'll probably take a break, and there will be time for [Penn and me] to fight. If GSP moves up to fight Anderson (Silva), there's still time for him to do that and me and B.J. to fight.

"There's a lot of options. I hope it works out favorably for me. But I can't ask the world to stop turning just because I have an injury."

Like Velasquez, who injured his shoulder in a heavyweight title-winning performance against Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, Fitch is a gym rat. His biggest challenge will be to stay away from the rigors of regular training.

"It's really depressing," he said. "My most favorite thing in the world to do every day with my life, I don't get to do now for a few months."

Velasquez, meanwhile, is loosely scheduled to return at the end of the summer but could be out until the end of the year.


http://mmajunkie.com/news/23308/ufc...lder-surgery-hopeful-for-b-j-penn-rematch.mma
 
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#16 ·
Pretty sure the time off isn't gonna hurt him Xeb. Guys at AKA always seem to do better after a long lay off honestly, and hopefully him and Cain are back soon.



Weird that the #1 + #2 guy at AKA are both out with serious injuries. Wonder if it's effecting the morale over there.
 
#17 ·
If you're unfamiliar with shoulder injuries, labral damage is no joke. His shoulder will likely never be the same as it once was. No chance he's back in 6 months. I would be surprised to see him back in the cage in less than a year. He is looking at 12-18 months (until he's in great shape) IMO.

That being said, I wish him a speedy recovery.
 
#24 ·
This sucks for him.
I can only wish him speedy recovery and get well soon.

But like Xeb pointed out: this is gonna affect him a lot.
Not just because he isn't fighting and/or training.

But on a psychological level: it's gonna eat him from the inside. He will watch the WW unfold, guys fighting, evolving, new contenders appear on the horizon...and that's gonna eat him.

And when he returns he has to start lower in the ranks compared to now.

Koscheck knows best. He said it's a b*tch, not being able to fight/train: there is nothing to do all day long.

“It’s boring as hell,” Koscheck said. “I can see why people want to fight for longer than ever. I’m like, ‘What the hell do I do?’”
I guess Fitch and Koscheck will become best buddies now.

PS: AKA is really hurting right now: Cain, Kos and Fitch out injured...OUCH!
 
#27 ·
Fortunately for him BJ is also out, they'll likely fight again for number one contendership. Thing about Fitch is that he got his ass handed to him in the GSP fight, but other than that he's beaten everyone, so maybe he had a bad day? Fitch went a full 5 rounds of getting his ass kicked, most people would've given up. Jon's deserved a title shot for awhile now, but if he has to beat BJ(again, since he won the first fight BS judges) then so be it. What's he to do? He has the reputation of putting on boring fights when he fights just like Shields and GSP, he's just not as charming as they are and/or vocal so he takes all the wrap for the boring fighters in the WW division haha. Without Jon Fitch around for 6 months people are gonna start talking about how boring Shields/GSP fights are.
 
#33 ·
I'm not a fan of this guy and I don't like his fighting style, but Fitch deserves much respect, he's a guy that knows how to win, he's strong mentally and he's a true fighter.
 
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