Whittaker, Costa Facing Six-Month Sits

Whittaker, Costa Facing Six-Month Sits

UFC 298 injuries and medical suspensions for the athletes who competed at the “Volkanovski vs. Topuria”-led event this past weekend (Sat., Fe.b 17, 2024) from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., have been obtained by MMA Fighting.

Multiple fighters have been handed six-month sits, including Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, who went to war for 15 minutes, resulting in a unanimous decision win for “The Reaper.” Both men ended up with multiple injuries, including a possible fractured hand for Whittaker and a cracked foot for Costa.

All that effort and no post-fight bonus …

Nevertheless, Henry Cejudo has also been handed a six-month suspension following his unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili; however, it won’t really matter because “Triple C” retired for a second time after the event.

Checkout the full list of UFC 298 suspensions:

• Robert Whittaker: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to hand; suspended 60 days no contest, 60 days no contact unless cleared by physician for laceration (right eye, foot); 45-day mandatory suspension, 30-day no contact for hard bout (no exception).
• Paulo Costa: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to right foot, left leg; suspended 60 days no contest, 60 days no contact unless cleared by physician for laceration; 45-day mandatory suspension, 30-day no contact for hard bout (no exception).
• Henry Cejudo: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to left forearm
• Mackenzie Dern: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to left leg, CT scan; 45-day mandatory suspension, 30-day no contact for hard bout (no exception).

• Marcos Rogerio de Lima: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to right foot.
• Carlos Vera: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to shoulder.
• Zhang Mingyang: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to right hand.
• Danny Barlow: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician for possible fracture to left forearm; 45-day mandatory suspension, 30-day no contact for hard bout (no exception).
• Josh Quinlan: Suspended 180 days no contest, 180 days no contact unless cleared by physician (CT scan); 45-day mandatory suspension, 30-day no contact for TKO (no exception).
• Alexander Volkanovski: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of knockout.
• Amanda Lemos: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of hard bout.
• Junior Tafa: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of technical knockout.
• Brendson Ribeiro: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of knockout.
• Oban Elliott: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of hard bout.
• Val Woodburn: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact with no exceptions because of hard bout.
• Ilia Topuria: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Ian Machado Garry: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Geoff Neal: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Merab Dvalishvili: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Anthony Hernandez: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Roman Kopylov: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Rinya Nakamura: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Miranda Maverick: Seven-day mandatory rest.
• Andrea Lee: Seven-day mandatory rest.

Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases. In addition, not all injuries are recorded during the post-fight examination and often times surface in follow-up tests.

For complete UFC 298 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.