Escudero looking to prove himself at UFC 103

Undefeated UFC lightweighter Efrain Escudero is looking to bounce back from his recent injury problem at UFC 103.

Escudero was forced out of his UFC Fight Night 18 bout with Jeremy Stephens due to a rib injury.

“I think that I have to come in and give the fans what they were hoping to see,” Escudero told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “I do apologize to Amir Sadollah on all my interviews that I gave, but he hasn’t fought since ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and I do not want to be that person.

“I don’t want people to believe that everyone that wins ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is just going to wait two years then fight.”

“I got injured on March 9 – my rib injury – and I didn’t tell anybody,” Escudero continued. “I was just like, ‘I’m going to rest it. I’m just going to sit back, and I’m still going to go through it.’

“Then my coach found out that I couldn’t even punch when he was holding mitts without it hurting. Then my manager found out, and they were like, ‘Are you OK? Are you good to fight?’ I said I wanted to go through with it, then everybody was like, ‘No, you’re not fighting.’”

Tags: Amir Sadollah, UFC