UFC Fight for the Troops Reminds Fans that MMA is Real

After the Kimbo vs. Seth Petruzelli debacle a few months ago people started asking if MMA was fake, or at least rigged to some point. After a brief investigation that incident was ruled nothing but legal. The recent Fight for the Troops card also proved that the UFC version of the fight game is still as “as real as it gets”. The goal of the night was to put on a show for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to raise money toward a 70 million dollar project to help returning troops. The fight card was a success, Unfortunately for some of the fighters their nights didn’t go as planned.

In what will be considered the worst injury in UFC history, Corey Hill suffered a leg injury that will draw comparisons to those of Willis McGahee (The U), Shaun Livingston (L.A. Clippers), or even Joe Theisman (Redskins). Shortly into the 2nd round, Hill threw a right leg kick that was shielded. When the two shins hit Hills snapped. If you looked at the pictures and didn’t know it was real you would swear it was fake. There was no question that the leg was broken and Hill had suffered a terrible injury. The estimated time for recovery is somewhere in the range of 12-15 months or more. Hill will have a long road ahead of him. The good news is this may not be the end of the road for Hill like many are speculating. In 2006 Eric Heitmann a center for the San Francisco 49ers shattered his Tibia in a game on December 14th. After successful surgery he was able to rehab and start the following season.

Hill wasn’t the only fighter on the card to receive injuries. After refusing to tap from a picture perfect armbar Razak Al-Hassan may have suffered a broken arm or serious tendon damage that would need surgery to repair. Johnathon Goulet was TKO’ed after 33 seconds into his bout and required a brain scan as well as also suffering a knee injury (rumored to be an MCL tear). Yoshida was also brutally knocked out by Josh Koscheck. After a hospital visit it was ruled that he had a concussion and should heal just fine.

No sport is free of injuries and MMA is sure to have its share. In the UFC the Corey Hill injury is the worst injury to date, but in the big scheme of things a broken tibia is only minor. In the 3 major sports in America (NFL, NBA, MLB) it is not a rare occurrence for players to suffer season ending injuries. Players blow out knees, dislocate shoulders, or worse on what seems to be a regular basis. MMA is full of referees that know what they are doing and the safety of the fighters come first. If you have encouraging words for Corey add them in the comments, I plan on forwarding the link to Hill’s camp. All of us at MMAOpinion.com wish Corey Hill a quick and successful recovery.