Luke Rockhold's Knee Cleared for UFC 199 Main Event
Some eyebrows shot up when UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold said during Thursday pre-fight press conference that he has been training with a torn medial collateral ligament his entire UFC 199 camp.
Depending upon the severity of the alleged tear, the injury's revelation could have put Saturday's headlining bout in jeopardy. Rockhold is slated to put his belt on the line against Michael Bisping, who stepped in on short notice after Chris Weidman had to pull out of the fight due to a neck injury. Rockhold being denied the fight in the final 48 hours would have been a damaging blow to the fight card.
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After meeting with the California State Athletic Commission's medical staff during Friday's official weigh-in, Rockhold's knee has been cleared.
“100 percent, his knee is fine,” CSAC executive director Andy Foster told MMAWeekly.com.
Most pundits expected that the injury wasn't too severe since Rockhold was openly talking about it, but that still sent up some precautionary red flags to the commission.
“You know, when a fighter says something like that, we have to do our due diligence,” said Foster. “My doctors checked him out and he’s been cleared, 100 percent.”
Pending weigh-in clearance, Rockhold and Bisping will throw down in the UFC 199 main event at The Forum in Los Angeles.
