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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira accepted a fight with Cheick Kongo for UFC 149 next month, he had received initial clearance from his doctors to return to full training after suffering a broken arm against Frank Mir in December.
However, he was forced out of the bout with Kongo over the weekend when difficulties in training made it clear the arm wasn't fully ready to go. In an interview with Fighter's Only, his physiotherapist Angela Cortes commented on the reasoning behind him stepping out of the bout.
"The objectives that were set to reach the prime of the preparation in the period of training had been obtained," she said. "But during the intense sessions of sparring Rodrigo related discomfort followed by pain in the arm that went under surgery, caused by takedowns and impact from punches on the region where the screws are placed."
Penick's Analysis: It's unfortunate that he took the fight without knowing fully whether he'd be ready or not, but he was cleared by doctors to return to training. Finding out after the fact that the arm wasn't yet ready certainly didn't do the UFC any favors, and it took another fight off the UFC 149 card, but there's not a lot that can be done when the injury just isn't yet healed. Hopefully the ill effects of recovery will fade soon enough, and perhaps he'll be back by early fall.
[Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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