Cormier discusses injury, and timetable for return

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour��and discussed the injury that took him out of the UFC 207 main event on December 10 vs. Anthony Johnson.

Cormier tore his right adductor muscle near the groin. For a few weeks he had felt weakness in his legs, so focused on his boxing. When the weakness prevented him from running, he became concerned he would not be able to cut weight properly and called UFC president Dana White.

Cormier now faces a variety of potential courses of treatment. Rest alone will resolve the injury, and he could expect to return in five months. Rest with platelet-rich plasma injections could hasten the return. Cormier could also have surgery, which would have him back in the gym in eight weeks.

“I don’t know, man,” said Cormier, as transcribed byMarc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “It’s a weird deal because I always try not to have surgery. That’s kind of my thing. I do whatever I can to not go under the knife. I’ve got some decisions to make.”

“I told [the doctor] I would like the fastest way back to the Octagon.”

Cormier hopes now to fight Johnson in February or March, and then Ryan Bader before July. Cormier has pulled out of multiple high profile fights, but in fairness, he has as well had many opponents pull out. These include Frank Mir in September of 2012, Rashad Evans in February of 2014, and Jon Jones in August of 2014. In short, people get hurt training to hurt people.

“I feel if I don’t prepare in the ways I’ve always prepared in, I don’t know if I’ll be able to compete to the best of my ability,” he said. “It sucks.”