Jake O'Brien's Injury Possibly Career Ending?

Twist of lEMOn · 06-11-2007, 02:29 AM

Quote:

The injury that forced UFC heavyweight Jake Oâ€™Brien (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to pull out of Saturdayâ€™s UFC 72 fight with Tom Murphy isserious â€” and the possibility that itâ€™s career-ending hasnâ€™t been ruled out, according to his agent, Ken Pavia.

Pavia spoke with UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) earlier today. (Check out our initial report.)

Oâ€™Brien is suffering from â€œstingers,â€ a painful nerve injury that originates in the spine. The sports injury usually appears in athletes from contact and combat sports, such as football, wrestling and mixed-martial arts. According to Pavia, Oâ€™Brien has battled the injury since his Division 1 wrestling days at Purdue University.

â€œHe started getting stingers in college, and they became a lot more frequent during preparation (for UFC 72),â€ says Pavia. â€œ[Theyâ€™re] causing numbness and temporary paralysis in his arms.

â€œItâ€™s a pretty serious injury, and heâ€™s getting treatment for it. I guess thereâ€™s always the possibility itâ€™s career-ending, but weâ€™re not sure. Heâ€™s getting intensive treatment five days a week.â€œ

Oâ€™Brien is perhaps best known for his upset of Heath Herring earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 8. The three-time high school state champion controlled the televised bout, scoring a decisive unanimous-decision victory over the PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran.

Hoping to continue his undefeated streak, Oâ€™Brien pushed the UFC to include him on the UFC 72 fight card. The event takes place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday.

â€œHe really wanted to fight in Northern Ireland,â€ said Pavia. â€œHe wanted to push through it.â€œ

Unfortunately, the injury became too severe, and Oâ€™Brien was forced to pull out of the event.

Pavia also confirmed that Justin McCully agreed to take the fight in Oâ€™Brienâ€™s place, but he wasnâ€™t granted early release from his medical suspension. McCully, who won his UFC debut against Antoni Hardonk, hyper-extended his elbow in the April fight. Heâ€™s been under suspension ever since.

â€œHe was ready to power through it,â€ says Pavia. â€œHeâ€™s fought with injuries his whole life and was ready to go, but we couldnâ€™t get the medical suspension reduced in time.â€œ

With Saturdayâ€™s pay-per-view event just six days away, no replacement has been named. Murphy (a cast member from The Ultimate Fighter 2), whoâ€™s already waited 16 months for his second UFC fight, may now have to wait a little longer

Meh, I may not like the guy or watching him fight but hopefully he'll get better and fight on some smaller shows or on the UFC undercard....Not against Heath Herring <_<

Dmac · 06-11-2007, 08:40 AM

...who he beat in Tim Sylvia fashion lol. But yeah hopefully the dude recovers.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
JBL's WWE Career Status	Mikk	Wrestling News & Rumors	8	09-24-2006 02:38 PM
Jaime Fox Ends a New Comedians Career	Dakstang	Real Media	1	07-03-2006 10:35 AM
Career Goals	Joseph T. Cool	General Discussion	13	03-28-2006 01:31 PM
Your ideal career	Blitzkrieg	General Discussion	16	09-27-2005 10:35 AM
Career or soon to be career	Miakal	General Discussion	33	12-14-2004 03:52 PM

Jake O'Brien's Injury Possibly Career Ending?

Discuss Mixed Martial Arts fighters here from Fedor Emelianenko to Sean Sherk or maybe you would like to discuss upcoming events from organizations such as UFC, Pride or K-1.