Josh Thomson's injury not fully healed, bout with Gilbert Melendez may be in jeopardy
Strikeforce lightweight Josh Thomson's (16-2) broken leg has not completely healed, and his Aug. 15 bout in San Jose, Calif., with interim title holder Gilbert Melendez (15-2) may now be in jeopardy.
Thomson today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (
www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that he wasn't able to fully train for the unification bout, and additional sources close to the contest have indicated the organization is actively seeking a replacement for "The Punk."
Should Thomson be forced from the card, it would be the latest hit to "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg," which has already seen the loss of Joe Riggs and Alistair Overeem due to various ailments (but did receive a nice injection of talent with the addition of "Babalu" Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi).
Thomson broke his leg during a training session in April, delaying his rematch with Melendez until August.
"I broke it right at the ankle, so I had to have some plates put in with some screws," Thomson said. "It was a double break in the fibia. I had a break in the lower part of the bone and a break in the upper part of the bone. I got eight screws and a plate put in.
"It was kind of a nasty break. The good thing is it wasn't a jagged break. There was no compound fracture."
Now nearly four months later, Thomson admitted he's not yet 100 percent.
"I guess you could say that two weeks ago I was on crutches," Thomson said.
Thomson admitted he was considering his options, one of which included withdrawing from the contest.
"I'm still talking right now with my cornermen and my management about moving the fight back to October or me just not fighting [Melendez]," Thomson said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not taking this fight serious. I'm doing what I can to win this fight. That's the bottom line."
Thomson also admitted he hasn't been able to follow his usual training routine while his leg continues to heal.
"It's moving right along, I guess you could say," Thomson said. "I've decided to go with the non-training method for this fight – kind of play it by ear and see what happens. There's a lot of things I couldn't do. I'm not training like I was able to for the first fight, and we're going to see what happens."
MMAjunkie.com was unable to reach Strikeforce officials for comment, but Thomson said if he's in the cage on Aug. 15, he'll be ready to put on a show.
"That doesn't mean I'm not taking this fight serious," Thomson said. "It doesn't mean that I'm not going to show up and fight my ass off. Have I ever not showed up and fought my [expletive] ass off?
"Whether that means not training at all and going out there and winging it 110 percent in the first round, I'm going to go out there and fight my ass off."
And if things don't work out, Thomson won't attempt to offer any excuses. However, he will have a backup plan.
"Trilogies are meant to happen," Thomson said. "This is a fight that was meant to happen. I believe I can beat him and I have all the tool to beat him. I think I showed it in the first fight.
"If things don't go my way, then hey, at least I know I'll get a third one."
