UFC Busan Medical Suspensions: Frankie Edgar Facing Potential 180-Day Layoff

It seems highly unlikely that Frankie Edgar will be making his bantamweight debut next month.

Edgar is facing a potential 180-day suspension unless he receives doctor clearance for a right orbital injury following his first-round technical knockout loss to Chan Sung Jung in the UFC Fight Night 165 headliner in Busan, South Korea, this past Saturday. At a minimum, Edgar is suspended 60 days with 45 days of no contact.

The UFC, which regulated the event due to the lack of athletic commission presence in South Korea, released medical suspensions to mixedmartialarts.com on Monday. Everyone on the card received at least a seven-day mandatory suspension.

Edgar stepped in on short notice to replace the injured Brian Ortega at UFC Fight Night 165. Prior to the bout vs. Jung, there was some hope that “The Answer” would be able to proceed with his 135-pound debut against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh on Jan. 25. However, the 60-day mandatory suspension would seem to indicate that Edgar will be off the card. The former lightweight champion is no longer listed on the event page at UFC.com.

Five other fighters from UFC Fight Night 165 are facing possible 180-day suspensions: Aleksandar Rakic (left shin), Doo Ho Choi (left wrist), Mike Rodriguez (dental clearance), Heili Alateng (right foot) and Ryan Benoit (right thumb).

UFC Fight Night 165 Medical Suspensions:

Frankie Edgar: 180 Days or cleared by OMF for Right Orbital; 60 Days Mandatory and 45 No Contact

Volkan Oezdemir: 30 Days for Hard Bout and 21 Days No Contact

Aleksandar Rakic: 180 Days for Left Shin Hematoma or cleared by PCP and 30 Days Mandatory

Charles Jourdain: 30 Days for Hard bout and 21 Days No Contact

Doo Ho Choi: 180 Days for TKO and Left Wrist or cleared by Ortho and 45 Day Mandatory and 30 Days No Contact

Mike Rodriguez: 180 Days or cleared by Dentist and 60 Day Mandatory and 45 No Contact

Marc-Andre Barriault: 30 Days for Nasal Laceration and 21 Days No Contact

Kyung Ho Kang: 30 Days for Left Brow Laceration and 21 Days No Contact

Pingyuan Liu: 30 Days t for Left Eyelid Laceration and 21 Days No Contact

Tanner Boser: 45 Days for Hard bout and Right Eyelid Laceration and 30 Days No Contact

Seung Woo Choi: 30 Days for Hard Bout and 21 Days No Contact

Suman Mokhtarian: 45 Days for Hard bout and Right Cheek Laceration and 30 Days No Contact

Dong Hyun Ma: 30 Days for Hard bout and 21 Days No Contact

Alexandre Pantoja: 30 Days for Right Shoulder pain and 21 Days No Contact

Matt Schnell: 60 Days for KO and 30 Days No Contact

Raoni Barcelos: 30 Days for Hard Bout and 21 Days No Contact

Said Nurmagomedov: 30 Days for Right Knee Pain and 21 Days No Contact

Heili Alateng: 180 Days or Right Foot cleared by X-Ray and 30 Days Mandatory and 21 Day No Contact

Ryan Benoit: 180 Days or Right Thumb clear by X-Ray and 30 Days Mandatory and 21 Days No Contact