UFC: No serious injuries despite hobbled Jorgensen, Sanchez at UFC Fight Night 78

Scott Jorgensen

MONTERREY, Mexico – As bad as they looked, the kicks that took UFC bantamweight Scott Jorgensen and featherweight Diego Sanchez didn’t produce serious injuries, the promotion confirmed following Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 78.

Jorgensen didn’t escape unscathed, of course. The veteran suffered a sprained ankle and broken hand, Jaime Pollack, the UFC’s senior VP of international development and general manager of Latin America, confirmed to MMAjunkie at the post-event press conference. No injuries were reported for Sanchez, who wasn’t present at the media gathering.

UFC Fight Night 78 took place at Monterrey Arena in Monterrey, Mexico. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX Sports 1.

Jorgensen (15-12 MMA, 4-8 UFC) took on Alejandro Perez (16-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on the event’s FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary card and immediately lost his footing after taking a kick to his calf muscle. While he was able to finish the round, his condition deteriorated in the second frame after initially showing signs of improvement. Then, while attempting a kick, he dropped to the mat in obvious pain, tapping out to award Perez the injury TKO.

“No break in my foot or leg need a mri to find out more,” Jorgensen confirmed on Twitter following his fight. “Left hand has a small fissure in my metacarpals (though).”

Jorgensen also defended the official referee and his cornermen after online critics questioned why the bout wasn’t stopped when he sustained his injury.

“I told the ref and my corners not to stop it between (rounds),” he wrote. “I have full faith in my corners or they wouldn’t be here with me.”

Sanchez (25-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC), meanwhile, dropped to the mat in the second frame of a FOX Sports 1-televised co-headliner bout after taking a leg kick from onetime title challenger Ricardo Lamas (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) . Unlike Perez, Lamas targeted Sanchez’s damaged leg and once forced him to hop backward while defending punches. Despite the apparent injury, Sanchez waved on his opponent, inviting a slugfest, and survived to the final bell. After a unanimous decision was announced for Lamas, Sanchez, who fought for the first time at featherweight, limped out of the octagon.

UFC Fight Night 78’s official medical suspensions from the event should be released next week, at which point full the extent of injuries stemming from the event will be confirmed.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 78, check out the UFC Events section of the site.