Henry Cejudo pulls out of UFC 211 fight against Sergio Pettis with a hand injury

This Saturday’s UFC 211 card has taken a late hit during fight week as flyweight contender Henry Cejudo has been forced to pull out of his scheduled match-up with rising prospect Sergio Pettis due to a hand injury.

After the news first broke on MMAFighting.com, Cejudo took to his official Instagram to offer up an explanation saying that he was told it would be “insane” to fight after finding out he was suffering from a cyst in his wrist as well as a ruptured capsule. With possible damage also done to his ligament, the injury which first occurred two weeks ago during sparring is now confirmed to be worse than first thought and will not allow the Californian to fight.

 

It is with regret that I have to announce I have had to pull out of my fight with Sergio Pettis this Saturday at UFC 211 due to injury. I really want to apologize to the fans and to Sergio Pettis for this unfortunate event. About two weeks ago I injured my hand sparring, and went to the doctor to get it examined after I was unable to grapple or punch. The doctor looked at x rays and informed me my hand wasn’t’ broken, so I assumed it was just bruised or sprained. I stopped using my hand for the next week and a half to allow it to rest as much as possible, and I had multiple prp treatments as well as an ultrasound in hopes of breaking up any build up or swelling. After arriving in Dallas on Tuesday evening, I hit mitts with my striking coach to get my timing down, and after I threw my first punch, a sharp pain shot through my wrist and hand. My team and I contacted the UFC to see if a cortisone shot would be allowed. The UFC sent me to a hand specialist, and he told me I had a cyst in my wrist as well as a ruptured capsule with the possibility of a tear in the ligament. He informed me the cortisone shot could possibly do more damage than any benefit and told me it would be insane to fight. He contacted the UFC doctors and informed them that my wrist and hand were unfit to fight this Saturday. I will schedule an appointment with a hand specialist next week and figure out the next course of action. Thank you and I will be back stronger than ever. #photogrid @photogridorg

A post shared by Henry Cejudo (@henry_cejudo) on May 10, 2017 at 7:01pm PDT

The 30-year-old, who won a gold medal in Freestyle Wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was hoping to bounce back from the first two defeats of his MMA career. After going 9-0 including four wins in the UFC, “The Messenger” fell short at the final hurdle as he failed to beat UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 197 before falling to a second successive defeat at the hands of Joseph Benevidez at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale.

Meanwhile, his scheduled opponent Pettis expressed his disappointment when speaking to MMAFighting.com on hearing the news.

“It’s a sh*tty feeling, man,” he said. “I’ve never had this happen to me before. I put so much time and effort into this camp. I was three days away from a performance of a lifetime.”

The younger brother of former Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, the 23-year-old Roufusport MMA product has won his past three UFC bouts including a unanimous decision win over John Moraga to put himself amoung the contenders in the flyweight division. It’s understood there is no current plans to find a replacement for Cejudo and that Pettis will be paid his show money without having to make weight.