Sad news: Gordon Ryan suffered a nasty cut on the eyelid today during his last day of hard sparring in preparation for EBI 9. It has been tightly stitched and dressed but there is no way he will be able to compete on Sunday. He will be replaced by Garry Tonon. Gordon was already the smallest man on the card and Garry is a weight division below Mr Ryan, so this will be a tough assignment indeed. Mr Tonon was himself cut during training in England, but his cut is much less severe and in a much less sensitive area than Mr Ryan's. He will be ready to go by Sunday. Both cuts were the result of training with people outside of our gym – there is always a catch here – it's good to train with unfamiliar partners as this is something you will experience in competition; however, sometimes these strangers bring a spastic and clumsy movement that is hazardous in terms of small and unnecessary injuries like these. Thankfully Gordon Ryan has other big upcoming projects to prepare for as soon as this problem passes, but still, the disappointment is strong. Mr Tonon will commence training as soon as his own cut allows and the show will go on
