UFC Champions Injury Update: GSP, Jones Status Up In The Air, Pettis Needs Surgery, Velasquez Does Not

MMA fans everywhere have been anxiously awaiting the next announcement concerning UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Truth be told, man of the hour St. Pierre is only one of a growing handful of elite but-injured UFC champions. On last night’s “UFC Tonight,” Ariel Helwani had an update for all of the champs currently on the shelf for one injury or another.

He spoke up first about the 170-pound champion’s situation:

“I spoke to Georges’ manager just a couple of days ago and he told me that it is quote-unquote possible that that fight on Saturday night was the last of his entire MMA career. He says Georges is in good spirits, he’s healthy; he actually went to the hospital after the fight. He was cleared an hour later. He said everything Georges said in the Octagon and after on Saturday night, he meant it. This wasn’t something that just came out of nowhere; it had been building up over time. They’ll talk about his future, but right now, that rematch is not set stone according to his camp.”

Interesting. Dana White seems to think he’ll have a date in two weeks.

Helwani also touched on the current status of UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was rumored to fight Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC 170 before withdrawing due to lingering injuries:

“(Jones’ manager) Malki Kawa said that his foot that he injured against Alexander Gustafsson, that left foot, is still not healthy. He wants to pretty much shut it down for the rest of the year, take a mental and physical break, and then get back to training around January. He wants to get back in the cage around March or April.”

Helwani went on to update the status of UFC Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, who suffered a shoulder injury in his one-sided throttling of rival Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 last month:

“Well, Cain Velasquez, Kenny, partially tore the labrum in his shoulder in that fight against JDS back in October. He told me that in a couple weeks he’s going to sit with his doctor to find out what kind of timetable he’s looking at as far as recovery is concerned, but he will not need surgery and that is the good news. There are some rumors out there that his fight against Fabricio Werdum will take place in Mexico next year. He told me he can’t and will not confirm those rumors, but he did say that it has always been his dream to fight in Mexico.”

To wrap it up, Helwani detailed the unfortunate details about UFC Lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis’ knee injury that forced him to withdraw from UFC on Fox 9 on December 14:

“It is official, Anthony Pettis will need surgery on that injured left knee. The surgery is scheduled for December 12 in Los Angeles. He is in good spirits, says he guarantees he’ll be back by the summertime.”

So that’s quite the injury wrap-up for ailing UFC champions, although nothing all that concrete has been confirmed. We’ll just have to wait patiently for some of the best fighters in the world to get healed up from their recent wars. It’s hardly optimal but everything will be okay. Even more great battles await the champions upon their return.

Outer Photo: David Banks for USA TODAY Sports