Justin Burlinson was forced to withdraw from his Cage Warriors welterweight title defense against Sean Clancy Jr on Saturday due to a horrific injury sustained in a freak accident. The Sunderland-born fighter was set to face the Scottish interim champion in the main event at Glasgow's Braehead Arena.
However, Burlinson had to pull out after a bizarre injury in his hotel suite's bathroom. Cage Warriors initially described the cut as 'superficial' in an official statement, but video footage from Burlinson's team revealed a much more severe wound.
The statement read: 'Cage Warriors confirms that tonight's scheduled main event between Justin Burlinson and Sean Clancy Jr will be rescheduled. Earlier today, Burlinson suffered a superficial laceration to his forearm at the event hotel requiring five stitches. CW 205 Glasgow will proceed as planned, with Aidan Stephen vs Joshua Abraham moving into the headline slot. Further updates, including a new date for the rescheduled main event, will be announced in due course. We wish Justin Burlinson a full and speedy recovery.'
However, clips uploaded to Instagram by Burlinson's cornerman, Charles Joyner, showed the 28-year-old had sustained an incredibly deep cut. Joyner explained: 'It's being advertised that he's had to withdraw after getting a superficial laceration with only five stitches. That is not true. As you can see from these videos, the laceration is deep and he lost a lot of blood this morning. He also received 25 stitches in total, 10 inside the wound because the wound was deep, and 15 on the outside.'
Video footage showed Burlinson lying on his bed with a gnarly slash across his forearm, followed by footage of the bathroom with walls and floor splattered with blood. Joyner described the cause: 'When he got into the bath this morning to have his shower, there's a ceramic soap dish that was attached to the wall. He's put a little bit of weight through that soap dish and it's completely snapped off. The remainder of the ceramic soap dish, which is now a sharp object, has sliced open his arm and he's lost loads of blood. The blood is literally spurting all over the bed.'
Joyner also noted that he and the corner team ultimately pulled Burlinson from the bout, despite the fighter wanting to still take part. Burlinson later gave his own statement on Instagram: 'Everyone who came to support me, bought tickets, commented, shared, I just want to apologise to them, apologise to Sean. Obviously he's lost out on the opportunity the same as me. Anyone who knows me knows that I wouldn't just pull out for no reason. I needed this fight more than anyone for my career and to move onto bigger things. So, it was a really hard decision to have to pull out of this. But after my team spoke to me and explained everything, I feel like my team made the right decision on withdrawing me from the fight.'
Many of Burlinson's peers sent messages of support. UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall wrote: 'Health over everything mate. Keyboard legends always will be there talking, they have no idea what it takes to fight at any level, never mind your level. Heal up and go again when everything is right.' Oban Elliott added: 'Well done boys for saving him from himself! Awful cut. No need for the fight to go ahead in this situation, just postpone it.' Jack Grant also said: 'Heal up Burlo, hopefully the match gets rescheduled for 4th July. Correct choice by your team and friends.'
