UFC 281 proved to be a brutal event, and the medical suspensions handed out by the New York State Athletic Commission speak to that.
On Monday, MMA Junkie received the full list from the NYSAC, which oversaw UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York. It showed 19 fighters suspended indefinitely on a card that featured 11 finishes, which means those fighters will need doctor’s clearance before returning to the cage.
Among the 19 indefinite suspensions, five fighters – [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag], [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag], [autotag]Nicolae Negumereanu[/autotag], [autotag]Seung Woo Choi[/autotag], and [autotag]Ottman Azaitar[/autotag] – received the longest mandatory minimum of 90 days.
Former lightweight champion Edgar was knocked out by Chris Gutierrez in his retirement fight; Reyes was knocked out by Ryan Spann; Azaitar lost by knockout to Matt Frevola; Choi lost by TKO to Michael Trizano; and Negumereanu was knocked out by Carlos Ulberg.
Both fighters in the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] and [autotag]Israel Adesanya,[/autotag] received indefinite suspensions as a result of Pereira’s fifth-round TKO win to claim the middleweight title. Pereira was suspended 30 days and Adesanya 60 days.
Scroll below to see the medical suspensions handed out to each fighter. It’s important to note that fighters can return to competition sooner than the allotted suspension if they are cleared by a doctor.