TJ Grant had to pull out of his forthcoming title shot against Ben Henderson after suffering a freak concussion injury during training recently, and to make matter worse he’s not being guaranteed a shot at the belt once he gets back to full fitness.
Grant had reluctantly withdrawn from the fight after being struck on the head by a training partners heel during BJJ practice. While the full extent of the injury wasn’t immediately apparent, he tells MMAFighting.com that he began to have difficulty concentrating, a headache and a a sensitivity to certain things like light and sound.
Hoping that he would still be ready to fight on August 31st at UFC 164, Grant secretly spent the next month out of the gym recovering. Unfortunately after that period he hadn’t fully recovered and so had to make a tough decision to bow out of the fight.
Anthony Pettis has since been drafted in as Grant’s replacement to fight Henderson, and it had been presumed that Grant would fight the winner, but it turns out that’s not the case.
According to Grant, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has informed him that he may have to take a small step back, which would likely be in the form of another title eliminator.
That may be a bitter pill for Grant to swallow given that he’s already racked up a five fight winning streak, but if it is he’s not showing it and instead appears happy just to focus on getting healthy so he can return to full training again.
