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Fighter's fighter Maguire rejects UFC injury conspiracy

John Maguire fights John Hathaway at UFC Nottingham © Getty Images

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British welterweight John Maguire does not believe any fighter in the UFC would willingly take the easy way out of a fight following the introduction of medical insurance, despite the recent plethora of withdrawals that have scuppered the calendar.

The year of 2012 has largely been cursed for the UFC, with card line-ups seemingly never certain until the day of the event as injuries strike down some of the sport's top names.

UFC 153 is the latest card to be hit by the disease, with Jose Aldo and Rampage Jackson forced off the Rio card. In the space of one afternoon, the UFC was left searching for a new main event and co-main event, with the eventual answer coming in the shape of Anderson Silva v Stephan Bonnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira v Dave Herman.

The growing list of injury pull-outs has led to persistent speculation that fighters are now more prone to giving in to a slight niggle, because they are financially covered for lost money.

However, Maguire is a fighter's fighter, and he simply cannot get his head around the possibility of an individual ducking a fight if he does not need to. Ahead of his all-British war with John Hathaway at UFC Nottingham on September 29, Maguire says missing a fight is the worst possible scenario.

"It's absolutely devastating. The fight gets close, you train hard and then if you get an injury... there's nothing worse. You just sit down moping!" Maguire told ESPN.

"It would never cross my mind [to take the easy way out]. If you're looking for an easy way out, you're in the wrong business.

"If you've got a serious injury, you've got no choice. But every fighter has niggles and largely you just get on with it and do what you've got to do. I'd never look for an easy way out."

Tickets for UFC: Nottingham are available now from www.capitalfmarena.com and www.ufc.com.

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