Australian fans lost a fun fight.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweights Jimmy Crute and Dustin Jacoby were scheduled to collide on the UFC 325 main card next month (Sat., Feb. 1) inside Qudos Bank Arena in New South Wales, Australia. Unfortunately, that matchup is now off after Crute suffered a brutal injury just two weeks before fight night.
“The Brute” confirmed the news on Instagram.
“Good morning, everyone. I have some pretty disappointing news,” Crute said. “On Monday, I completely ruptured my ACL. I’m out of my fight Feb. 1 against Dustin. I’m extremely disappointed and gutted, but I think I can use this opportunity to grow with patience. In nine, ten months, I’ll come back stronger, more in tune with my body, stronger legs. God is good, and there’s a reason for this. Just a little speed bump — I’ll be back stronger.”
It’s a devastating setback for Crute, who returned from a brief semi-retirement last year and rebuilt his career following a rough skid that saw him lose three bouts — all by finish.
After opening the year with a draw, the Australian rattled off back-to-back first-round stoppages over Marcin Prachnio (watch highlights) and Ivan Erslan (watch highlights), seemingly re-establishing himself as a dangerous presence at 205 pounds.
A ruptured ACL typically requires six to nine months of recovery, meaning Crute could return sometime in late Q3 if everything goes smoothly.
As for Jacoby, there’s no word yet on whether the promotion plans to keep him on the UFC 325 card. If the UFC wants to preserve the America vs. Australia theme, the only other local option at Light Heavyweight would be Navajo Stirling.
Here is what UFC 325 looks like:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
- Dan Hooker vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
- Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Dustin Jacoby vs. TBD
- Jamie Mullarkey vs. Quillan Salkilld
- Cody Brundage vs. Cam Rowston
- Torrez Finney vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Oban Elliott vs. Jonathan Micallef
- Kaan Ofli vs. Yizha
- Billy Elekana vs. Junior Tafa
- Dom Mar Fan vs. Sang Uk Kim
- Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Sebastian Szalay
- Lawrence Lui vs. Sulangrangbo
- Namsrai Batbayar vs. Aaron Tau
