Eddie Wineland is on the road to recovery following a broken jaw last month. But he still has a rough road in front of him to make a decision about his future.
A week ago, Wineland had the wires removed after having his jaw wired shut for three weeks. He suffered the injury in a knockout loss to Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati on May 10.
In the aftermath, though, Wineland continues to weigh the risks involved with continuing to fight vs. hanging up the gloves to stick with one job – the one he holds as a firefighter. To go along with the career choice, he’s in the middle of building a new house – and he has a baby on the way with his fiancee.
“I just have a lot on my plate right now,” said Wineland (21-10-1, 3-4 UFC). “House, kid on the way – so that now becomes Priority No. 1. I have a demon to wrestle, and it’s going to be a tough one. But that day will come and I’ll tackle it then. For now, I’m focusing on what I need to do for my child.”
Wineland became the first bantamweight champion in World Extreme Cagefighting history in 2006. He lost the belt in his first defense, but ultimately the WEC merged with the UFC. After a run of six wins in eight fights, with three knockouts and three fight-night bonuses, Wineland got a UFC title shot this past fall.
But then-interim champion Renan Barao stopped him with a second-round TKO. Wineland rebounded with a win over Yves Jabouin in Chicago in January before the Eduardo fight.
Now time will tell if that will be his final fight.
Shockley makes UFC debut in Vancouver: Lightweight Josh Shockley is the latest fighter from Northwest Indiana to make it to the UFC, and he makes his debut with the promotion today in Canada.
Shockley (11-2, 0-0 UFC) fights fellow newcomer Jason Saggo (9-1, 0-0 UFC) to open up the card at UFC 174, which takes place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Shockley’s fight can be seen live on the UFC’s Fight Pass digital network at UFCFightPass.com. The network is a subscription-based service and costs $9.99 monthly for live fight cards, untelevised preliminary-card fights like Shockley-Saggo and the UFC’s entire library of fights.
Shockley joins Keith Wisniewski, Eddie Wineland and Darren Elkins as fighters from Hobart’s Duneland Vale Tudo camp to reach the UFC.