UFC Des Moines lost a prelim bout due to a bizarre accident at the PI.
Injuries are unfortunately commonplace in mixed martial arts. Whether it’s an in-fight injury or an ailment just weeks from a fight, fighters have to deal with a lot of adversity with their bodies regularly.
But UFC lightweight Trevor Peek suffered an injury under some of the strangest circumstances ahead of UFC Des Moines.
Peek was supposed to face Jeong Yeong Lee at UFC Des Moines on May 3rd in an under-the-radar lightweight bout. As Peek undertook the tail-end of his training camp, a routine session at the UFC Performance Institute went wrong and resulted in him announcing his withdrawal from the upcoming card.
UFC’s Trevor Peek fractured his leg jumping rope ahead of UFC Des Moines
In a recent Instagram post, Peek revealed the unusual story of what happened that led to his UFC Des Moines withdrawal.
“I actually fractured my leg at the performance institution on Friday,” Peek explained. “It’s not a bad fracture. I still have to go get CT scans in the next day or two and figure out if I’ve got any kind of ligament damage or anything like that.
“I wish I had a cool story on how I did it, but I got on some soft mats and was jump roping. I was alternating each leg. I’ve been jump roping for 20-something minutes and got a little tired, a little careless, and wasn’t paying attention. I come down with all my weight on my left leg, and it sounded like a shotgun whenever it went off, it popped.” (h/t BJPenn)
As of this writing, it’s uncertain if the UFC matchmakers will seek a short-notice replacement for Lee for UFC Des Moines. Peek was looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to Yanal Ashmouz and Charlie Campbell.
Peek’s injury at the UFC PI isn’t the only bizarre incident to take place at the promotion’s state-of-the-art training facility. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka dislocated his shoulder at the PI before his team tried and failed to reset it, resulting in a more severe ailment than first thought.
UFC Des Moines main event winner could earn a bantamweight title shot
UFC Des Moines is headlined by a bantamweight clash between Cory Sandhagen and former flyweight titleholder Deiveson Figueiredo. The card features the returns of Bo Nickal, Reinier de Ridder, and other up-and-coming standouts.
The Sandhagen vs. Figueiredo winner could make a strong case for a title shot with an impressive performance at UFC Des Moines. UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will face Sean O’Malley in a rematch at UFC 316 in June.
As for Peek, he could potentially return to the Octagon by year’s end, depending on the severity of his injury. But in either case, fighters may stray away from jumping rope after Peek’s freak accident.
