UFC-veteranen BJ Penn har åkt på ett bakslag i sin kommande MMA-karriär. Enligt ett uttalande från hans hemsida så har han fått grå starr i sitt vänstra öga, och förväntas att genomgå en operation
“I got a cataract in my left eye and I’m heading out to do see Dr. Crandall”, berättade Penn till BJPenn.com. “He is the guy that did Margarito’s eye and the UFC set this up for me.”
Penn har lidit av problem av denna sjukdom ett längre tag nu, även om han bestämt hävdar att det inte påverkade hans senaste prestation mot Rory MacDonald på UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz som gick den 8 december.
“January of last year is when I first noticed there was a problem”, berättade Penn. “I was looking at my iPhone and I really couldn’t tell what was going on. At first, I thought I tore my retina, so I went to my doctor and he said, ‘I can see right away what the problem is, you have a cataract’. The doctor told me it could be traumatic or it could be from this medicine I was taking called Prednisone, which is what I had been using over the previous few years for sinus infections.”
“I’m definitely hesitant to fight right now with the cataract in my eye. People ask me all the time if I’m going to fight again and I almost just want to change the subject because right now, I definitely don’t want to fight with a cataract in my eye.”
Grå starr kan i slutändan hindra en fighters karriär, och senast en fighter blev påverkad av det är självaste Magnus ”Jycken” Cedenblad som tidigare i år blev diagnostiserad med grå starr. För honom kom det dock som en överraskning, och den planerade matchen mot Rafael Natal på UFC on Fox 6 blev inställd. För Penns del kan det hela också påverka hans karriär rejält, men även hans vardagliga liv blir svårare.
“The number one reason for the surgery is just for daily life,” säger Penn. “I have a tough time driving at night when the lights are shining and I’d like to get that back. On the other hand, you never know what you’re going to be thinking if the surgery goes well. If I go in the gym and I’m knocking down all my sparring partners and doing awesome I would definitely think of fighting again.”
“I talked to the UFC and Lorenzo and those guys got Dr. Crandall and really expressed to me that they would like me to do the surgery with him. One; for the rest of my life, and two; if I ever want to fight again he is the only guy who has ever passed a commission test and he sits on the board for all cataract surgeons in the country.”
“The UFC really set me up, they are taking first class care of me”
Så kommer han att gå någon match igen?
”We’ll see how this goes,” svarar Penn på Twitter.
