Hazelett Makes Return Against Doctor’s Advice

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com)

On August 7th, UFC welterweight Dustin “McLovin’” Hazelett will step into the octagon for the first time since a loss in January to Paul Daley. In the bout, Hazelett  suffered a broken orbital bone that was expected to keep him out for a lengthy amount of time.

But McLovin’s determination to get back in the cage has him facing off against Rick Story at UFC 117, against doctor’s advice.

“There’s always concerns,” Hazelett stated on MMA Junkie Radio. “Even before I started fighting there were concerns because clearly it’s a dangerous sport. It’s not tap dancing, but this is what I love to do.”

“They said, ‘If you rush back into sparring, and you get hit hard, it will end up fracturing again, and it will be even worse.’ I wanted to give it time to make sure that it completely healed so that I wouldn’t rush into a fight, get hurt, and I’d be off even longer. I wanted to make sure I was completely 100 percent coming back.”

“They sent me to a leading expert in my area, I guess, and he was not too keen on the idea of me coming back early,” Hazelett said. “In fact, he refused to let me come back early, and he said, ‘If you were my son, I would suggest you never fight again, obviously.’

“I’m really looking forward to coming back and kind of starting over and getting a couple of wins together without any lengthy layoff.”