Garcia Fractures Hand in Jung Barnburner, Out for 2-4 Weeks

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Listen to Leonard Garcia's post-fight radio interview.

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A fractured hand is but a small price to pay for the accolades that have been coming Leonard Garcia’s way since his split decision victory over Chan Sung Jung at WEC 48 “Aldo vs. Faber” Saturday in Sacramento, Calif.

The featherweight bout, already earmarked as an early “fight of the year” candidate, saw the Greg Jackson product and South Korean newcomer wing punches, knees, and kicks at one another at full blow for a bulk of fifteen minutes. Two of the three judges gave Garcia the nod with 29-28 scores.

Garcia told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show” on Monday that he believed he’d fractured his right hand in the first round.

“I didn’t want to show him that my hand was hurt, just because I thought he would keep trying to turn it on,” said Garcia. “Two to four weeks (out) is what the doctors said. It’s my index finger and it’s right above the wrist… the doctor actually told me I was really fortunate it didn’t move to either side. It just stayed in place and broke straight in half.”

Garcia said his hand would remain in a splint for two to three weeks, followed by two weeks of therapy.

“(The doctor) said I should be back to punching in four weeks,” said Garcia. “We was happy with the way the hand was set.”

The injury did little to slow Garcia down during a bout the 30-year-old fighter predicted would move fast.

“I only had three weeks to get ready for him. I was really worried about running out of gas, so we really pushed conditioning hard for a few weeks with (trainer) Greg (Jackson),” said Garcia. “We saw a lot of his style and similarities to my style, so we knew at one point, we’d have to try and outsmart him and make him fight a different fight. I feel like that’s what we did.”

Garcia said that Jackson and his camp believed that the Texan had cinched up the second and third rounds after dropping the first round to Jung. Still, Garcia wasn’t completely shocked to hear the split decision, as the 15-minute melee contained numerous fast and muddled exchanges that didn’t buckle either fighter.

“I think at several points of the fight, we just threw technique out the window and we’re just sitting there junking,” said Garcia.

Though the bout erupted into some less-than-technical trades, Garcia said he’d thought his performance showed some growth with his footwork and select striking combinations.

Garcia said he watched the fight with his opponent as they were both transported to a local hospital. Garcia was particularly pleased to hear the South Korean fighter’s declaration through his translator that he’d never felt hurt in a fight until that night.

“A fight like that is one of those fights where I feel like there is no loser. I felt like he did an outstanding job and I did as good as I should have for the time I had (put) in (training),” said Garcia.