Chas Skelly opens up about 'freak accident' that may end his career
UFC featherweight Chas Skelly won't be competing at UFC Norfolk on Feb. 29 against Grant Dawson. In fact, he may never fight again.
"This injury just literally happened three days ago," Skelly told theScore. "We had done some jiu-jitsu techniques and we were just doing some live rolls. This was a situation I've been in a million times. It was just a freak accident, man. It was crazy."
Skelly (17-4) had already endured a tough start to the year. He was scheduled to compete against Dawson last month at UFC 246 before a USADA issue pulled his opponent from the card, canceling the bout.
The Florida native wouldn't go into specifics on the accident but revealed he suffered an "upper-body injury." Skelly believes his fight career may be over if he can't rehab this injury.
"I'm going to try rehab this injury," Skelly explained. "If I had to have another major surgery, it would probably be the end of my career. But I'm hoping I don't. I'm thinking I'll be able to rehab through it and maybe be back to training in eight weeks."
Skelly added: "At 34 years old, it's like my body's just telling me it's time to move on. When I'm healthy ... I'm training hard and I'm getting better every day. I'm at a great camp here. It's hard to give that up with fighting when you've put yourself in a position, where you finally feel like you're improving. So I'm not throwing in the towel just yet."
While he's on the shelf, the Sanford MMA product plans to maintain a structured schedule and avoid falling into bad habits.
"My plan is to get up in the mornings, do my rehab, keep my cardio up the best I can. When (I) hurt my elbow, I felt like my mind got stagnant. It really was a state of depression and it was tough to deal with. It's hard for me to even go to the gym when I'm not able to train. I don't like seeing these guys in there doing these things that I want to be doing. If I can continue to fight, great. But If I can't, I'm not going to sit here and cry about it. I'm just going to build toward my future."
Should this injury mark the end of his career, Skelly envisions a future in the fight business.
"I would actually see me being an analyst or a commentator more in my future than being a coach, for sure. Actually, more than that, I would love to do some matchmaking-type stuff, too. That's like my passion, you know? I like watching these young guys and trying to figure out what their potential is. I think I'm pretty good at it."