"The knee is jacked up. It's swollen up pretty bad. It looks like a big ball right now. I go for an MRI tomorrow at 2:30, so I'm just laying around, relaxing. I was not injured at all going into this fight. It was when we first tied up, and he did the outside trip. I felt my knee pop. It snapped right away, and I kind of yelped on the way down. When I was trying to get guard, I could just feel my knee moving around. There wasn't much I could do other than roll around and try to minimalize the pain. I tried to get him a couple times, but I could feel my knee sliding a lot more than it was, so I was like. 'F*ck, I gotta figure this out', and I finally just decided that I couldn't do anything, so I pulled the plug. It happened in the first 10 seconds of the fight. It's annoying. I had put so much into this camp. I've been trying to get back on track these last couple years, and it just doesn't seem to happen. I don't understand it. I try to be a good guy. I help tons of people and try to do all the right things in life. I dedicate myself to this 100 percent, then this sh*t happens. I don't get it. Things like this make me question reality. It's heartbreaking, for sure."
-- Heading into his Welterweight fight with Che Mills at UFC on FUEL TV 5: "Struve vs. Miocic" this weekend (Sept. 29, 2012) at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England, mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Duane Ludwig was hoping to steer himself out of a two-fight losing skid. Unfortunately for "Bang," it appears that the 34-year-old fighter steered himself onto an operating table instead. That's because Ludwig tweaked his knee in the opening seconds of the 170-pound bout and it only got worse from there when midway through the first round, Ludwig's knee gave out completely and he was forced to literally waive off Mills in agony. Ludwig (via Stephie Daniels at BloodyElbow.com) seems completely defeated with this latest career twist and might even feel worse when the results of his MRI return in the next few days. It's entirely possible that surgery could sideline him for more than one full year, which at his advanced age and with his recent lack of success -- losing five of his last seven bouts -- Ludwig could very well have to consider retirement. Only time will tell. In the meantime, here's to hoping for a speedy recovery. To read a complete recap of the fight between Che Mills vs. Duane Ludwig click here and here.
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