Rory MacDonald injured and out of UFC 158, Johny Hendricks faces Carlos Condit

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQxgu7VmB6zviffi05 EqfGMoF nGii2DL 0EwnpZemOpNj9obwjgAnother injury has forced surging Welterweight Rory MacDonald from his highly anticipated rematch versus Carlos Condit at UFC 158. Apparently MacDonald suffered a serious back and neck injury while training for the bout. With the unfortunate news, Johny Hendricks will replace MacDonald, leaving his former opponent Jake Ellenberger without a fight for the time being. MacDonald’s manager was on hand to discuss the facts with MMA Fighting:

“Unfortunately late last week during a training session, Rory suffered a severe neck and back strain,” MacDonald’s manager Lex McMahon told MMAFighting.com. “Rory is in a great deal of pain and has a very limited range of motion in his neck. Rory consulted a doctor and was advised that he will need to take three to four weeks off from training while he rehabs the injury.
“Rory is very upset that he will not be able to face Carlos Condit at UFC 158 but is looking forward to getting back to training as soon as possible and fighting the UFC‘s top competition.”

“Unfortunately late last week during a training session, Rory suffered a severe neck and back strain. Rory is in a great deal of pain and has a very limited range of motion in his neck. Rory consulted a doctor and was advised that he will need to take three to four weeks off from training while he rehabs the injury.”

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“Rory is very upset that he will not be able to face Carlos Condit at UFC 158 but is looking forward to getting back to training as soon as possible and fighting the UFC‘s top competition.”

Fans may remember that MacDonald was forced to postpone his bout against former champion BJ Penn late last year due to a serious cut above his eye. While this injury is completely unrelated, one has to hope that MacDonald has not become injury plagued as he seeks to climb to the top of the Welterweight ladder.

Of course his friend, mentor, and training partner Georges St-Pierre is the long-standing champion of that division, and the two have publically said they will not face one another in the Octagon. St-Pierre is set to face Nick Diaz at the March 16th showdown, and perhaps both GSP and MacDonald would have been on a collision course with each other had they both won impressively that night.

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Now, MacDonald’s rise will have to wait. Let’s hope that this year doesn’t continue the trend of neverending card-killing injuries.