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Here we go again: Bisping injured... Boetsch gets Lombard

Quote:

The UFC has lost yet another key matchup. Seriously.

UFC officials announced later Wednesday night that British middleweight Michael Bisping has suffered an injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from a planned matchup with Tim Boetsch (15-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 149.

In his place now steps Hector Lombard (31-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who had been expected to headline UFC on FOX 4 against Brian Stann, who also withdrew from injury.

UFC 149 takes place July 21 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo headlines against title challenger Erik Koch.

Boetsch vs. Lombard is expected to remain on the evening's main card.

In his most recent performance, Boetsch delivered a spectacular come-from-behind victory against Yushin Okami at UFC 144. Down two rounds after contending with the onetime title challenger's crisp standup work, he charged back early in the third round and landed a barrage of punches that forced a stoppage.

Lombard, Bellator's longtime middleweight champion, signed with the UFC just this past week. The Cuban-Australian standout enters the UFC on the strength of a 24-0-1 unbeaten streak that dates back to 2006. Lombard, who nearly signed with the UFC in 2007 before visa issues got in the way, most recently knocked out Trevor Prangley at Bellator 58, which fulfilled the terms of his Bellator deal. He concluded his run in the organization with an 8-0 record.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29089/mich...or-lombard.mma

Besides taking advantage of the health care...maybe there's more to this than we know. Perhaps a coalition forming amongst the fighters a "fighters' strike if you will." Who knows...

Can it be all coincidental...

I'm actually more excited for this match up than I was for Boetsch vs Bisping or Lombard vs Stann. I got Boetsch by SD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Mercy (Post 1591605)

Yeah they all decided to tear muscles and break bones to go on strike lol..

I like Boestch vs. Lombard more than Stann anyway.

It's definitely not a conspiracy because it's easy to prove someone isn't actually injured. I think that fighters used to get injured all the time, but because the UFC doesn't pay that well and healthcare is expensive, they were forced to fight anyway to get their paycheck and make money. Now that healthcare is free for them, it makes more sense to take advantage of it and postpone a fight instead of putting yourself at risk of losing because you were hurt; losing a fight would cost you bonuses, potential sponsorships, and maybe even get you cut and hurt your popularity.

From the start, when they announced that they were paying for health care, I knew a lot of fighters would pull out due to injuries.

So this new trend of fighters pulling out of this many fights isn't that much of a surprise to me. If I was a fighter, and got injured, and was paid to heal my wounds, I would do the same.

This is crazy. I'd say it's coincidence, but if not then small injuries that guys would normally fight through, they're not bothering now because of the insurance. I'd have thought the payday would be enough to prevent this, but these guys are earning a lot more through the sport than we're led to believe, they can easily afford to fight only twice a year.

I'll take Lombard via KO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeHawk (Post 1591609)

Yeah they all decided to tear muscles and break bones to go on strike lol..

I like Boestch vs. Lombard more than Stann anyway.

Well, you actually took it verbatim. I insinuated that it seems fishy/coincidental that there are so many injuries going on. Some/most are documented, but others are just down right untimely. So...perhaps there's some kind of msg being sent who knows. Could be my conspiratorial mind at work...but I just find it odd.

Very interesting article about pay structure and talks of a union. My thoughts are that half these fighters are certainly hurt, half could fight, but are not taking any chances since the stakes are too high now and the competition is fierce.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...ainful-hit-all

The fear of getting injury via training before must have been horrible for the fighters. Not only do you lose your fight & purse but now have to pay for your rehabilitation. For the guys with families barely making ends meet, getting an injury before a fight is a disaster financially.

Basically, I can believe that the UFC paying for insurance might make the fighters a little less fearful of injury when training.

Lombard via brutal knockout