Luke Rockhold Suffering From Grade II MCL Sprain

UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold stated that he is suffering from the effects of a torn medical collateral ligament (MCL), which challenger Michael Bisping immediately accused the champ of using as an ‘insurance policy’ in case he loses.

Following this news Rockhold passed a medical exam performed by the ringside physician, provided by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), who will be monitoring the action ringside tomorrow night. The champ was, however, diagnosed with a Grade II MCL sprain.

Osteopathic physician Dr. Diego Allende, who spoke to MMAJunkie, had this to say on Rockhold’s MCL injury:

“As far as his physical exam, no, (there is no evidence of an MCL tear)”, said Allende.

“He has good stability, good range of motion; he cleared completely on the examination. I have all the confidence in the world that that won’t be an issue in his competition tomorrow night.”

According to Sports Injury Clinic, an MCL tear is classified into three Grades:

Grade I: ‘There may be mild tenderness on the inside of the knee over the ligament.’

Grade II: ‘Significant tenderness will be felt on the inside of the knee along the medial ligament.’

Grade III: ‘This is a complete tear of the ligament. Pain can vary and is sometimes not as bad as that of a grade 2 MCL sprain.’

While Rockhold only suffers from the Grade II sprain, Bisping has reported no such injuries and is coming into the bout at 100 percent. If the AKA product wants to remain the champion following Saturday’s bout, he better hope ‘The Count’ doesn’t take advantage of the knee he knew all along wasn’t in top condition.

UFC 199 takes place live on pay-per-view (PPV) from The Forum in Inglewood, California tomorrow (June 4, 2016).