UFC Vegas 119's Hyder Amil explains medical issue hindering performance
· Yahoo Sports
LAS VEGAS – Hyder Amil went through much more than many realized in recent months, aside from just losing his last pair of fights.
Amil (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) was an undefeated fighter until last June, when he was stopped by Jose Delgado at UFC 317. In his next fight, he dropped a unanimous decision to Jamall Emmers. Amil now knows what may have played a major factor in those outcomes.
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"I lost my last fight, but I won something bigger," Amil told MMA Junkie and other reporters at media day. "I was puking, fighting stomach symptoms during the fight, and they found out I had an ulcer, a hole in my stomach with acid, while I was fighting, pouring out. That's why I was wincing and burning. I puked after. I don't know if everyone saw. I didn't know what was going on with me, then a doctor stuck a camera inside my stomach, and they found an infection I had. If I were not to get rid of the infection within a year or two, I would have got stomach cancer."
Amil says he's now fully healthy and ready for his return against Christian Rodriguez on the main card of UFC Fight Night 279 on Saturday. It's an interesting clash, because Rodriguez (12-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) also enters on a two-fight skid and has made recent changes in his life, although he wasn't dealing with a serious medical issue.
"I'm off the medications," Amil said. "My last two losses, my last two fights, because of my infection I got from Mexico when I ate something – I was wondering where I got all these symptoms and I wasn't recovering well. I was stressed. I was like eight pounds light on both my last fights – also my both last losses. I was wondering why I couldn't rehydrate, because my stomach was compromised. ... When the doctors found out, it cleared it, and now I feel so healthy."
Amil entered the UFC in 2023 after defeating Emrash Sonmez on Dana White's Contender Series. He won his first two UFC bouts by stopping Fernie Garcia and Jeong Yeong Lee. His most recent win was a split decision over William Gomis, which is where he said his troubling year began.
"I've been racing with a broken car for eight months," Amil said. "My dad died, my best friend, my dog – everyone died in those three fights I had in eight months last year, and I had a stomach infection. Just craziness last year, and so I cleaned up my life, made it organized, got the infection gone, and I'm looking at this fight as, 'Did Hyder Amil learn his lessons from last year?' But also, I'm looking at this fight as, 'I'm looking forward to what it's like to race with a fixed car.'"
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC's Hyder Amil was 'racing with a broken car' in recent losses