Gilbert Burns, Khaos Williams and Joseph Holmes have all been suspended indefinitely following their fights at UFC 288 this past weekend.
Burns suffered a shoulder injury in the opening round of his welterweight fight against fellow top contender Belal Muhammad, an injury that will require him to get clearance from a doctor before competing again. The Brazilian was decisively beaten by Muhammad, who also claims that he entered the fight nursing an ankle injury.
Medical suspensions for the UFC 288 event were released by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, which regulated last Saturday’s pay-per-view event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. 14 of the 24 fighters that competed at the event were handed medical suspensions, with Williams needing clearance for injuries to his foot and knee whilst Holmes must undergo a scan of his forearm.
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Williams was returning from a year layoff to face Rolando Bedoya on the undercard of the event and he won a razor close split decision on the night. Bedoya was suspended for 30 days with three weeks of no contact for the hard fight, with Williams also receiving the same suspension in addition to clearance for his injuries.
Holmes suffered his third loss since debuting for the UFC last January as he was knocked out by Claudio Riberio in the opening fight of the night. The 27-year-old needs orthopaedic clearance of his left forearm and was suspended 30 days with no contact for the knockout loss.
Muhammad has been guaranteed a title shot against the winner of Leon Edwards and Colby Covington's pencilled-in clash later this year. The welterweight contender said of his win over Burns: "My last fight I wanted to box, this fight I wanted to kick, the fight before that I wanted to wrestle. I am showing you guys that I can do it all, it's mixed martial arts and I can do all of the mixing.
"To go out there and beat a guy like Gilbert Burns on three weeks notice after Ramadan, you guys have no idea what I went through to get here. You go into every fight a bit injured, especially on short notice, but there was nothing that was going to stop me from walking into that cage. There was no pulling out and once we made the decision I had to go through with it."
