Based on a hospital-bed picture, Gokhan Saki remains in good spirits despite his recent removal from next month’s UFC 219 card.
As reported earlier today, Saki (1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was recently removed from his bout with light heavyweight Khalil Rountree (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who now fights replacement and promotional newcomer Michal Oleksiejczuk (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
“UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm” takes place Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the full fight card and bout order haven’t been finalized.
According to Saki, an injury during a training session eventually forced him to the hospital, though he didn’t include details about the injury (via Instagram):
“As has been announced everywhere, i’m not fighting on the UFC 219 card. I wanted to announce this myself but i needed some time to recover mentally from this bad news. I got injured during a training and went to the hospital for this. My team and management took the decision with the medical team that i needed treatment and i have to think of my health first. I didn’t want to accept this but i’m glad i have the right people around me. It felt like i let my fans and supporters down, i was really looking forward to this fight. So the bad news was a bitter pil to swallow. But this is top sports and injuries are unfortunately a part of it. I’m recovering now and will be back in training soon. I want to thank my opponent Khalil for preparing for me and i wish him best of luck on December 30th. I want to thank all my fans/supporters for their great messages and i promise you 2018 i will give you KNOCK-OUTS! One knee, no knee, i will be there violently!!!!”
Saki, a 33-year-old Dutch-Turkish kickboxer, returned to MMA for the first time in 13 years in September at UFC Fight Night 117, where he scored a blistering first-round knockout of Henrique da Silva. The victory earned him a “Performance of the Night” bonus and resulted in a memorable post-fight interview.
For more on UFC 219, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.
view original article >>