Demetrious Johnson avoids surgery on his hernia after a second opinion
UFC flyweight title contender, Demetrious Johnson has tonight revealed that he’s avoided surgery on his hernia after seeking a second opinion from medical professionals meaning his much anticipated showdown with Joseph Benavidez to crown the first ever 125 pound champion could come sooner than expected.
Speaking via MMAWeekly.com, Johnson said:
“Basically, what happened was when I got kicked in the groin I’m assuming, but with my testicles there’s wires that connect to the back of it, and the wires on my left side were pretty severely swollen so my doctor gave me an anti-inflammatory and he checked it out today and he was like you don’t have a hernia, the first doctor who did the search for it he misdiagnosed you for a hernia because you were so swollen down there when he was checking, that’s why he misdiagnosed you with a hernia.”
“He said take it easy give it a chance for the swelling to go down. Like when I walk around it’s fine, but when he touched it or aggravated it, it hurts for a little bit. He said two weeks, the first week you know just relax with it let it heal and then maybe next week start doing (training). I’m getting x-rays on my hands on Wednesday because it’s still hurting. Each time I shake somebody’s hand I’m shaking it like a little (expletive) cause I don’t want anybody to touch my fist.”
“I’m just happy I don’t have to get surgery. The fight between me and Joseph (Benavidez), it’s going to happen. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about my own health first cause when I go into this fight I want to make sure I go in 100-percent instead of going into training camp with a hairline fracture on my hand or whatever.”
Johnson then spoke about when we might expect to see him compete with Joseph Benavidez for the vacant flyweight title.
“Everybody’s like let’s make it happen, UFC 151 which is September 1st, and I just want to make sure my body’s ready to go back in there and I can start training full time again and make it happen. My No. 1 concern is my health because if I’m not healthy, it doesn’t mean anything to me, I need to be healthy first. I’m not trying to be one of those fighters who sets a date for a fight and then oh no he has to have hand surgery. I’m making sure everything is 100-percent good to go and then it’s pedal to the metal.”
Joseph Benavidez reached the flyweight tournament final with an impressive second round TKO win over Yusuhiro Urushitani on March 3rd in Sydney, Australia. The favourite to win the tournament will now have to wait until the final quarter of the year before facing Johnson for the title. Stay tuned to MMABay for more on this as we get it.
By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)
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