UFC President Dana White is once again criticizing the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).
AKA is the home for some of the best fighters in the UFC. Former champions Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold, title contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier are among the fighters who train at AKA.
Cormier, Velasquez, Rockhold, and Nurmagomedov have extensive histories when it comes to dropping out of fights due to injuries.
“Some of the gyms we did (address the problem). With others it’s as bad as ever,” White told FOX Sports. “Listen, guys at AKA get injured every single fight. Luke Rockhold is out. Khabib (Nurmagomedov) got hurt there training. Then you have Cain Velasquez. The champ, Daniel Cormier is hurt.
“I don’t know (what the UFC can do), man. We started doing these seminars and stuff. They’re receptive to it. But I don’t know. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, man. Staggering numbers.”
Cormier, Velasquez, and Rockhold all dropped out of their last fights due to injury. In November, Rockhold was scheduled to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. In December, Cormier was supposed to defend his title against Anthony Johnson, and Velasquez was scheduled to fight Fabricio Werdum.
