TORONTO — Edmonton welterweight Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford has been suspended for six months for stepping into the cage with a broken arm to face Jake Shields on a World Series of Fighting card last month.
Pat Reid, executive director of the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission, said Ford got the ban for lying about his health on his statutory declaration to a commissioner of oaths.
Ford (22-5) took the main event fight to Shields (30-7) in the early going but lost via submission at four minutes 29 seconds of the first round at the Edmonton Expo Centre on Oct. 11.
After the fight, Ford released a video, which he said was made Oct. 2, acknowledging he had broken his ulna — one of the two long bones in the forearm — two days earlier in training.
He said he fought with the injury because he needed the paycheque.
Fighters had to go through pre-fight blood work, MRIs and eye examination before going through physical testing in front of a doctor and an exercise physiologist.
Ford had to do 10 knuckle push-ups among the tests.
