Ouchies!

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The injury that caused Mike Swick to withdraw from his fight with Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 was a concussion suffered during training.

Swick wrote this about his injury,

"I am out of UFC 103," he wrote. "It sucks, and I am sorry guys. I got foot swept while sparring this week and lost my legs. Landed on back of my head and neck and suffered a pretty bad concussion."

Of all the injuries one can possibly sustain none is as frustrating as a concussion.

Professional football fans are spoiled when it comes to concussions. Often players return to the game or attempt to play the following week. A majority are only out for two weeks before throwing on the pads and helmet in order to wield their bodies as an instrument of blunt force trauma.

Comparing a fighter's recovery to a football player's recovery is somewhat disingenuous but not totally. While football players wear helmets and pads their bodies and brains are still absorbing a huge amount of repeated force that can lead to further injury.

Personally I believe that the manner in which NFL players respond to concussions is woefully inadequate and puts players in long term risk. Yet, players soldier through so we are left wondering, why not Swick?

UFC 103 is two weeks away and the injury actually occurred approximately a week ago, so that would give Swick three weeks to heal. More time than most NFL players take. Mike has even stated that he believe his downtime will be brief.

But this reasoning ignores the issue of severity, which, according to Swick, was significant.

"I had the headache the next day as well, and I had somewhat of a headache for a few days. I still don't feel right, but I've been training through it because I wanted to fight."

The 30-year-old was finally forced to consult a doctor, and the news wasn't good.

"I was staying in the gym, staying training, because I was thinking it would be plenty of time to get healed up, and I would still be OK to fight," Swick said. "I had two doctors' opinions. They checked me out in San Jose, and they wouldn't clear me.

Mike made the best decision for his health but probably not for his career, which makes this all the worse, just ask Karo Parisyan. Parisyan actually had a title shot but an injury forced him to withdraw and has yet to obtain that elusive chance at UFC gold. With the state of the UFC welterweight division Swick may have fallen to the back of the pack.

Hopefully the UFC can get Swick back into action quickly against a top welterweight who wins their upcoming bout. That way he won't be implicitly punished for making the right call.