Former UFC headliner, Paige VanZant, was scheduled to rematch Mikael Michelle Brown for the first-ever women’s Power Slap title during their championship showdown as part of UFC’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately, “12 Gauge” suffered a “crazy” neck injury and was forced to withdraw.
“I have what is called a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma,” VanZant said on Instagram. “It actually didn’t come from training. It is a one in a million, freak, crazy injury that happened in my neck. Basically, I have a bleed in my spine, we have to figure out where it came from and why this happened because it is extremely rare and typically only happens in high trauma situations like car accidents and obviously I haven’t been in a car accident, especially recently and I haven’t been sparring. I haven’t been going live. I’ve strictly been getting ready for Power Slap so for this to happen, the neurosurgeons want to understand why.”
I’m no doctor but I don’t think it’s outrageous to suggest that getting walloped multiple times with open-handed slaps may have something to do with it — especially when rules designed for athlete safety are “no longer being enforced.”
“If it does get bigger, there is a chance I will be paralyzed,” the 31 year-old VanZant continued. “That’s just a reality I’ve come to accept. I feel really good. I’m in good spirits. It’s concerning and I’m being very careful and obviously I pulled out for a reason. But the way I feel right now, I have a feeling this was just a freak thing. My body’s going to reabsorb the bleed, it’s not going to get worse and I’m going to continue on with my career.”
No word yet on whether or not Brown will remain in the upcoming Power Slap lineup.
