http://mmajunkie.com/news/23460/champ-georges-st-pierre-ok-after-ufc-129-eye-injury-expected-to-recover.mmaWelterweight Georges St-Pierre did not sustain any permanent damage to his vision this past Saturday at UFC 129.
The welterweight champion got poked in the left eye during the sixth defense of his title, which came in the event's headliner against Jake Shields (26-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
Trainer Greg Jackson today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) suffered internal bleeding in the eye, which severely affected his ability to fight, but is expected to make a full recovery.
UFC 129 took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto and drew an announced 55,724 fans, the largest crowd ever for an MMA event in North America.
After a long and sometimes plodding five-round fight that ended with a St-Pierre victory, the fighter immediately noted the injury to UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
"I think in the second round, I got scratched inside," said St-Pierre, who was poked during one of Shields' open-hand strikes. "I need to go to (the) hospital. I can't see with my left eye right now. I just see a blur."
The welterweight champion did not attend the post-fight press conference and was whisked away to an area hospital. He later issued a Tweet as he left: "Hey everybody, leaving the hospital soon, just finished all my eye tests. I still don't see anything from my left eye, but I'll be [fine]."
Later, he issued another Tweet downplaying the severity of the injury and said he would follow up soon with doctors.
"I'll need to see a doctor in the next days! Yesterday I was told it was not a retina problem," St-Pierre wrote.
Jackson estimates it will be a month before the fighter will be back in the saddle. He praised the fighter's performance given the limitations he encountered during the fight.
"I thought he did amazing for only having one eye and no depth perception," the trainer said. "I'm very proud of him for fighting through that."
Despite lingering disappointment over another St-Pierre decision victory, UFC president Dana White said it's the nature of the beast that not every performance of the champion's is going to be a barnburner.
"Do I wish there that were fireworks and these two were standing in the middle of the cage blasting each other?" he asked. "All that stuff is great, but it doesn't always play out that way. I know Georges will be the one who catches all this stuff that he didn't finish another fight, but Georges is fighting the absolute best guys in the world."
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