Alan Belcher says he has suffered a detached retina and has been forced to withdraw from his main event fight against Demian Maia on the Sept. 15 UFC Fight Night 22 card in Austin, Texas.
"Sorry to my trainers. Sorry to UFC and Demian Maia," Belcher tweeted Sunday. "I know he has been training specifically for me. Sorry to my fans as well. As long as I get released from doctor, I will try to make UFN 22 to see my fans and watch the fights."
Belcher revealed that while training in Brazil, he began losing his vision in his right eye and was informed by a doctor to return to the U.S. immediately for further medical attention. Belcher has since underwent emergency surgery and is currently recovering. Belcher says he was told no contact (training) for six weeks.
According to WebMD, surgery is the only option to reattach the retina and in the majority of cases should restore a patient's vision. However, without the procedure, total blindness can occur within days.
Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/08/01/a ... mian-maia/
Update by Pepa seed
A middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt (29-9-2 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Rousimar Palhares (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) initially scheduled for UFC 118 has been moved to UFC Fight Night 22 and now serves as the night's main event.
Sources close to the event today confirmed.
The UFC Fight Night 22 headliner slot opened when Alan Belcher was forced out of his bout with Demian Maia due to detached retina that required surgery.
UFC 118 takes place Aug. 28 in Boston, so UFC Fight Night 22 – which takes place Sept. 15 – will give the Marquardt and Palhares an extra two-and-a-half weeks of camp time. The Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, hosts to their Spike TV-televised event.
It's not clear if Maia will remain on the UFC Fight Night 22 card. It's also not known how UFC officials will fill UFC 118's vacant main-card slot now that Marquardt vs. Palhares has been removed from the pay-per-view card.
Marquardt looks to rebound from a unanimous-decision loss to now-top contender Chael Sonnen, which came at UFC 109 in February. The loss, which propelled Sonnen to his title shot, snapped Marquardt's three-fight win streak (against Martin Kampmann, Wilso Gouveia and Maia – all of which came via knockout) and delivered a setback in his quest for a second title shot
