Currently sidelined due to injury, UFC welterweight [autotag]Alan Jouban[/autotag] hopes to make his octagon return before the end of 2020.
Jouban (16-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC), who hasn’t competed since last April, underwent knee surgery in November and plans to take his time with his recovery to avoid the risk of re-injuring his knee again.
The injury happened during a freak accident while shooting a promo for a sponsor. He jumped in the air and threw a switch knee, but heard a disconcerting “pop” when he landed.
“November 8 I think was my ACL,” Jouban told MMA Junkie. “I had an ACL meniscus and typically when you do an ACL, you’re looking at anywhere from six to nine months, so I’ll probably play it safe and go in the later half of that, towards the eight, nine-month mark, just to be safe, because new studies are showing now that people that come back too soon. Closer to the six-month mark they have a higher percentage of re-tearing it.
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“To play it safe, and with everything going on, I’ll probably come back around the eight or nine-month mark which would put a return for me, if everything goes well, later this year around October, November.”
Jouban is coming off a split-decision loss to Dwight Grant in a fight that left him stunned at the judges’ verdict. Known to put on some of the most exciting fights in the division, Jouban was especially disappointed because he was hoping to gain some leverage ahead of his contract renewal negotiations.
“I ended up getting the contract renewal, which I knew would happen,” Jouban said. “I signed a five-fight deal with the UFC about a year ago so I’m happy with that. I really wanted to make a splash and get a big win, to go into renegotiations with some leverage. Obviously, that fight didn’t go my way. I felt I was pretty much robbed, but nonetheless, it didn’t go my way so I was upset about that because I wanted to ask for money.”
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