One of the most injury-prone fighters in MMA has pulled out of his latest fight. Josh Thomson, who has suffered a number of injuries during his illustrious MMA career, announced Thursday he has pulled out of his upcoming fight at UFC Fight Night 62 against Gilbert Burns, and the UFC is looking for a replacement to fight Burns. Thomson pulled out with an undisclosed injury, and considering he’s broken many of the bones in his body, it’s hard to say what exactly happened this time. For my money, Thomson is one of the best lightweights in the world. He has excellent striking, great wrestling, slick submissions, a great chin, awesome cardio, and he’s also a very marketable fighter, something which is important in this day and age. However, for whatever reason he just cannot stay healthy. Since returning to the UFC two years ago, Thomson has fought only twice, and considering he is now 36 years of age it’s hard to see him fighting more than once or twice a year for the rest of his career. To be honest, though, I didn’t like this matchup with Burns so I’m not too upset he’s out of this fight. I just didn’t understand it. Burns is solid, no doubt about it, but he’s a prospect and he beat two mediocre fighters in his first two UFC fights and didn’t deserve the fight with Thomson. Again, I like Burns, but Thomson is a proven top-10 fighter, and so I’m glad the UFC will have to put their thinking cap on and find another fight for the young Brazilian. As far as who could fight Burns, the UFC could very well bring in a newcomer to the Octagon to fight him, or they could go with someone like Evan Dunham, a solid veteran, to fight the youngster. That’s the kind of step up Burns deserves, not a guy like Thomson who has proven for the last 15 years that he’s one of the best in the game. As for Thomson, I’m not sure how long he will be out for but when he does come back I’d like to see him fight Michael Johnson, who needs an opponent. As long as Thomson’s injury won’t keep him out of the Octagon forever I think a fight with Johnson when he returns makes all the sense in the world and I hope he UFC books it.
