Tyron Woodley reveals chronic injury that might impact future UFC fights
Tyron Woodley was set to rematch fellow former world welterweight champion Robbie Lawler June 29 in Minneapolis until a then unspecified hand injury reportedly forced him out of the bout. This week, Woodley revealed on his Hollywood Beatdown television segment that he has been diagnosed with chronic and severe arthritis in his hand.
Woodley says that his options to fully address the conditions are limited so long as he remains an active fighter. Furthermore, some of the treatment options perhaps more fitting for an active competitor like himself are still tricky.
For example, Woodley says that one treatment plan would involve physical therapy and then cortisone shots near any impending contest. The problem with that is many state athletic commissions domestically prohibit the use of cortisone (a hormone often used to treat inflammation) shots.
“I went to see a hand specialist earlier this week and the hand specialist basically looked at my X-ray and looked at the MRI and said that I have chronic arthritis in my joint right here,” Woodley detailed.
“There’s three joints that enable me to grab and grip. One has chronic arthritis and this one has severe arthritis. So he said that there’s a few different ways to heal and fix the problem permanently but it’s something you wouldn’t do if you were still active, because it limits your range of motion and grip. The temporary fix is to rehab it, get it stronger, get the flexibility to start to grab and grip, then 10 days before the fight let’s try to do a cortisone shot.”
Woodley went on to say that his promoter, the UFC, is currently looking for jurisdictions which might allow Woodley to compete while using cortisone.
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