UFC's Jason MacDonald cleared to train, anticipates December return

UFC's Jason MacDonald cleared to train, anticipates December return

by Steven Marrocco on Jul 29, 2010 at 2:20 pm ET
Duane "Bang" Ludwig isn't the only fighter getting back to his feet.

UFC middleweight Jason MacDonald (24-14 MMA, 5-6 UFC) on Tuesday had two three-inch screws removed his ankle and was cleared for light training.

MacDonald suffered a broken tibula, a dislocated ankle and bone and ligament damage when John Salter took him down in the first round of their fight at UFC 113.

MacDonald took the fight on short notice when Salter's original opponent, Nick Catone, was forced to bow out with a back injury, and fellow Canadian David Loiseau was not cleared to step in.

It was MacDonald's first UFC fight in a second stint for the promotion. The Canadian fighter burst onto the scene in 2006 with back-to-back "Submission of the Night" wins over Ed Herman and Chris Leben, but he struggled to stay consistent in subsequent appearances and was released following two consecutive losses at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale and UFC 97.

MacDonald was the second fighter this year to break a leg inside the octagon. Ludwig broke his left fibula when Darren Elkins took him down in the first round of a fight at UFC on Versus 1 in March.

MacDonald has been on the mend since the injury, and he's done as much as he can to stay in shape. At the gym, he's worked his upper body and purchased a handbike to get around.

Tuesday's surgery cleared the way for light activity like jogging and jiu-jitsu.

"The doctor made an incision and stuck a screwdriver in there," MacDonald today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "The first four or five turns of that screw was unbelievably painful."

The screws had been holding MacDonald's ankle in place while his bones healed, though they limited his range of motion.

The Canadian fighter said the main obstacle to his recovery is getting confidence in the leg. He said the way he broke his leg actually could have been much worse; the ligaments that were torn completely off his bone and did not sever in the accident.

He realized the process might be a little slower than expected when he went for a run Wednesday and got a half-mile before his incision started to bleed.

"I think I'm going to ease back into it," MacDonald said.

The UFC paid for a pair of crutches and the initial hospital ride, but the rest of his medical care has been covered by the Canadian government. The promotion "froze" his contract during his recovery, but he's still a UFC fighter.

MacDonald said he'd ideally like to return to the octagon in December, but it depends on how his recovery progresses.

"As a fighter, I'm obviously eager to get back in there, and from a financial standpoint I've been laid off for a while, and I'd like to get back to fighting and making some money," he said. "But at this point in my career, especially since I just signed a new contract with the UFC and then the injury happened – and regardless of how the fight was going it was still considered a loss – it's important for me to be 100 percent when I return to the UFC."

via mmacrypt.com

Posted via email from MMACrypt.com