Weidman breaks hand, Belfort fight moved to Feb, Hendricks v Lawler 2 in
Chris Weidman broke his hand; the fight with Vitor Belfort has been moved from UFC 181 on Dec 6 to Feb, and is replaced by Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler 2.
Vitor Belfort broke the news via his Facebook fan page that Chris Weidman had suffered a broken hand, and would not be able to fight at UFC 181 on Dec 6.
“I’ve just received the news that Chris Weidman broke his hand and, for what everything points to, our fight is gonna be moved to February,” wrote Belfort.
The news was confirmed by UFC president Dana White, via Ariel Helwani:
Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani
•Unconfirmed so far. RT @guicruzzz: Vitor Belfort tweets Chris Weidman broke his hand and is out of UFC 181. Fight is postponed, per VB.
•Dana White just confirmed to me that Chris Weidman had to pull out of UFC 181 and the Belfort-Weidman fight has now been moved to Feb.
•As a result, Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler 2 is now taking place on Dec. 6, per Dana White.
The break is a hairline fracture, suffered while sparring. It is expected to take from four to six weeks to heal.
In an interview with Long Island’s Newsday, Wiedman described being puzzled at how it hurt to open a car door or brush his teeth since mid June. Weidman thought it was a sprain, and tried to push through.
The left hand was lightly brushed while sparring with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
“It killed me,” said Weidman. “I couldn’t move my hand for like three or four days.”
Finally, he got a proper diagnosis from Dr. Steven Shin at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Shin is a consultant on hand injuries for the Lakers, Dodgers, Angels, Kings and Anaheim Ducks. The hairline fracture apparently occurred a while ago. It was not seen on previous MRIs or a recent X-ray.
“I was so confused about this hand,” said Weidman. “I was really sick to my stomach about the whole thing yesterday, I was really down and upset. Today, you have to realize God has a plan. I’m happy it’s a break this whole time and it’s something I can cast up and it’ll heal.”
UFC 181 would have been Weidman’s third title fight in less than a year. He took the title from Anderson Silva, kept it in the rematch, and then beat Lyoto Machida in July. Belfort is coming off one of the wildest runs in the sport’s history, knocking out Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson in a row, all by head kick.
The Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler rematch had been targeted for early 2015, but has been pushed up by the latest injury.
