Sean Sheehan 
After replacing Ray Borg just a few weeks ago, Neil Seery has now also been forced to pull out of his fight with Richie “Vas” Vaculik in Australia next month. The team Ryano stand-out injured a rib in sparring with Louis Smolka stepping in to replace the Dubliner.
Seery was looking to make it two UFC wins in a row after he brilliantly beat Phil Harris at UFC Dublin on July 19th after losing his debut to Brad Pickett earlier in the year in a fight of the year candidate.
Smolka takes the fight after coming off of the first loss of his career in May. The American lost to the last flyweight challenger Chris Cariaso after going unbeaten for his first seven fights. Before that, Smolka had an impressive win in his UFC debut over Alptekin Ozkilic.
The former professional surfer “Vas” is one of the biggest stars in Australian MMA and will also be looking to make it two wins in a row after taking out Roldan Sangcha-an in his last fight.
For Seery, who confirmed via Facebook today that the rib injury happened in sparring on Thursday, it’s all about healing up from this setback before he gets to have a full camp for his next fight.
We spoke to Neil’s coach Andy Ryan, who expressed his disappointment
“We’re gutted, we’re sick, he has put some much work into it. He looked very sharp, his ground work was super, his wrestling much improved.
“It happened at his last sparring, just a light sparring session on Thursday, he popped a rib. He went to the doctor who said he has a fractured rib, and is not allowed fly because the flight could cause a punctured lung.
“Neil wanted to still go and try to recover over there but in 2 weeks he will still have a fractured rib, and it cant be strapped up. There was just no chance he was going on the plane with that risk. I had to tell him he was out, he’s not fit to fly.”
