Aussie brawler James Te Huna comes into UFC 127 looking to shake off ring rust and re-establish himself in the UFC 205 division. A broken arm incurred in his UFC debut against Igor Pokrajac has proven to be a vexing problem for the Aussie 205’er. The severity of the break and resulting complications during his convalescence have sidelined Te Huna since the UFC last appeared in Australia in February of 2010.
“I had snapped the ulna, it was a bad break. The ends were badly splintered so when they brought it back together and ran the plate alongside of it, there was a bit of a gap in there and it took a while for it to fuse together,” Te Huna said in speaking to the Penrith Press. “When it did fuse together it took about four or five months to heal. I started training again but I got an infection and it went inside the bone and it caused big dramas. I went back in hospital for a week, came back out, started training again, and then went back in hospital for another week. After the second operation I had time off, tried to get it fixed and now I’ve been training the last couple of months.”
The lingering effects of the injury caused Te Huna to turn down a bout at UFC 120 in London. With his body now fully healed, Te Huna will look to get back on track and move up the light heavyweight ranks. His opponent at UFC 127 will be bruising Swede Alexander Gustafsson. With wins over Jared Hamman and Cyrille Diabate as well as a spirited but losing effort to Phil Davis, Gustafsson is a rising prospect in the 205 ranks. Te Huna is looking to steal a bit of the Swede’s mojo and use the momentum to propel himself to bigger and better things in the 205 picture. A win by either fighter could possibly lead to a break out from the UFC Aussie/International card ghetto into a Stateside appearance. With much on the line and both fighters given to a wide open offensive philosophy, the Te Huna vs Gustaffson looks to be the hidden gem the UFC 127 card and a possible darkhorse candidate for Fight of the Night in my estimation.