(Those hats that make it look like you have an arrow through your head? Comedy gold. Somehow, the same principle does not apply to the AK-47. PicProps: BrasilCombate.com)
Well, it's not every day that both guys decide they’d rather not fight. That however seems to be the case with Mike Swick’s scheduled comeback fight against David Mitchell at the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” event on Jan. 22 in Ford Hood, Tex. Swick, who has not fought since February, announced on his Facebook page recently that Mitchell was out with an injury (a shoulder, people are saying) and said that his own ongoing medical issues made the best option for the former “TUF 1” contestant to sit this one out too, rather than accept a replacement opponent. He sounded more relieved about it than anything else, if you want to know the truth. Here’s the original message from Swick himself, consider all his quotes in this story fully sic’d:
"Not fighting on January 22nd," the fighter wrote. "I got the call yesterday that David Mitchell backed out due to an injury and considering my current situation we opted to put off the fight all together."
For some time now, Swick has been dealing with highly-publicized
stomach/esophageal problems which he describes as “agonizing.” After first suffering through a misdiagnosis (thanks, doctors) and some restrictive changes in his diet, we thought he had things sort of cleared up a few months ago, but guess not. The following statement – also from Facebook – sure makes it sound like he was preparing to face Mitchell at somewhat less than 100 percent.
"I have been dealing with my esophageal condition this whole camp and its taken a toll on my body," Swick said. "I will need more time to seek better treatment to ensure I can compete at this level. ... Its just a really bad condition to have as a pro athlete. I got into Martial Arts to push myself & compete w/ the best fighters & athletes in the world. To give it my all, entertain & inspire others to chase their dreams. At this point I am not near at my best & dont wanna take a fight just for a paycheck when I cannot deliver what Ive worked hard on for 23 years."
Yeah, Swick’s medical condition sounds like pretty much the worst thing of all time. We wish the guy a full and speedy recovery. Hopefully this added time off will aid him in the healing process and maybe even allow him to get into a somewhat more high profile fight (he and Mitchell were scheduled for the prelims, oddly) when he is able to make a return. Any sort of pain involving the esophagus (or restricting our diet) sounds pretty fucking lousy.
Mitchell – a guy who has a Wikipedia page, albeit a totally blank one (which puts him above the guys Ricco Rodriguez has been beating up in the Fighter Hierarchy, but just barely) – had put together a decent little string of victories (War Machine, Tim McKenzie, Poppiez Martinez) before losing his UFC debut by unanimous decision to TJ Waldburger in September. Dude is 11-1, but likely won’t be hanging around the UFC ranks much longer unless he can get a win in his next Octagon appearance, whenever that might be.
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