Post by Mr. Orange on Aug 4, 2012 22:55:59 GMT -5
The fight between BJ Penn and Rory MacDonald has been pencilled in for the UFC on FOX 5 event taking place December 8.
It follows MacDonald having to pull out of the original UFC 152 booking following a cut over his right eye in sparring. His trained Firas Zahabi, of Montreal’s TriStar Gym, told Fighters Only the cut went “to the bone” and needed 38 stitches in total.
Since the pull-out there has been wrangling from both sides regarding the rearranging of the date.
Penn wanted the fight moved to UFC 153 while MacDonald said that would be too soon and that UFC 154 would be the earliest opportunity for him to get back in action - but that card takes place in Montreal and Penn would not countenance that.
In a spin-off story, Jon Fitch publicly called Penn “a coward” for ostensibly reneging on a promise to rematch after their UFC 127 draw (it was actually Joe Silva’s decision to nix the rematch and nothing to do with Penn).
Last night, ‘MMA Uncensored’ presenter Nate Quarry told viewers that Fitch was “trying to get attention [and] trying to hype himself into another big fight, because the Rory MacDonald fight got postponed…we have it on good authority, my insider has told me, that that fight has been set for the FOX card in December.”
Fighters Only has since confirmed with sources close to the situation that the December date is being targeted for the fight. In addition, MacDonald’s trainer Zahabi has said that MacDonald will continue with his promise to undergo voluntary drug test, which he was challenged to do by Penn.
-------------
Old Story
MMAWeekly:
Just when UFC 152 finalized its trio of headlining fights, one of the top Canadian competitors is off the show.
Young prospect Rory MacDonald suffered a major cut in training that has forced him out of his scheduled fight at UFC 152 against B.J. Penn.
UFC president Dana White revealed the news to MMAWeekly.com after the conclusion of UFC on Fox 4 on Saturday night.
White stated that MacDonald’s cut was so bad that he will have no contact for the next month, pushing him out of the scheduled fight with Penn in September.
The cut was on MacDonald’s forehead and required more than 40 stitches to close.
White indicated that news of the injury was so fresh that Penn hadn’t event been notified yet. With the story just breaking on Saturday night, of course no replacement had yet been found to step in and face Penn. Until he is notified of the injury, and considering his motivations for the fight, it’s unclear yet if Penn will even want to remain on the fight card.
--------------
So the question becomes, who'd you like to see Penn fight if he stays on the card?
It follows MacDonald having to pull out of the original UFC 152 booking following a cut over his right eye in sparring. His trained Firas Zahabi, of Montreal’s TriStar Gym, told Fighters Only the cut went “to the bone” and needed 38 stitches in total.
Since the pull-out there has been wrangling from both sides regarding the rearranging of the date.
Penn wanted the fight moved to UFC 153 while MacDonald said that would be too soon and that UFC 154 would be the earliest opportunity for him to get back in action - but that card takes place in Montreal and Penn would not countenance that.
In a spin-off story, Jon Fitch publicly called Penn “a coward” for ostensibly reneging on a promise to rematch after their UFC 127 draw (it was actually Joe Silva’s decision to nix the rematch and nothing to do with Penn).
Last night, ‘MMA Uncensored’ presenter Nate Quarry told viewers that Fitch was “trying to get attention [and] trying to hype himself into another big fight, because the Rory MacDonald fight got postponed…we have it on good authority, my insider has told me, that that fight has been set for the FOX card in December.”
Fighters Only has since confirmed with sources close to the situation that the December date is being targeted for the fight. In addition, MacDonald’s trainer Zahabi has said that MacDonald will continue with his promise to undergo voluntary drug test, which he was challenged to do by Penn.
-------------
Old Story
MMAWeekly:
Just when UFC 152 finalized its trio of headlining fights, one of the top Canadian competitors is off the show.
Young prospect Rory MacDonald suffered a major cut in training that has forced him out of his scheduled fight at UFC 152 against B.J. Penn.
UFC president Dana White revealed the news to MMAWeekly.com after the conclusion of UFC on Fox 4 on Saturday night.
White stated that MacDonald’s cut was so bad that he will have no contact for the next month, pushing him out of the scheduled fight with Penn in September.
The cut was on MacDonald’s forehead and required more than 40 stitches to close.
White indicated that news of the injury was so fresh that Penn hadn’t event been notified yet. With the story just breaking on Saturday night, of course no replacement had yet been found to step in and face Penn. Until he is notified of the injury, and considering his motivations for the fight, it’s unclear yet if Penn will even want to remain on the fight card.
--------------
So the question becomes, who'd you like to see Penn fight if he stays on the card?
