Herschel Walker withdraws from Strikeforce bout

Herschel Walker has said the hardest hit he ever took in his football career came from Chicago Bears’ Hall of Fame middle linebacker Mike Singletary. Still, he got up and kept running the football.

No such luck with his mixed martial arts training.

Walker suffered a deep cut under his left eye last Monday and had to withdraw from his MMA fight against Scott Carson on Dec. 4 at Strikeforce’s event in St. Louis.

“I feel terrible about this,’’ Walker said. “I know things like this happen in all sports, but I had trained very hard and was excited to be returning to the cage again. I hope to fight again as soon as the cut heals.’’

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, was cut from a knee strike while training at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., with teammate Daniel Cormier, a two-time U.S. Olympic wrestling team member. The cut required multiple stitches.

It would have been the second MMA fight for Walker, 48, a training partner of new UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Walker beat Greg Nagy by third-round technical knockout in his MMA debut in January.

Walker's foray into MMA was met with plenty of criticism last year. He was seen by some as a gimmick by Strikeforce in its battle with the UFC for viewers and presence. After beating Nagy, many of those critics came away impressed with Walker's athletic ability. What else would you expect from a running back who basically walked on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team in 1992.

"I'm never going to fight for the championship, I know that," Walker said.

The remainder of the Strikeforce card to be broadcast on Showtime remains strong. Dan Henderson fights Renato "Babalu" Sobral in the main event, and UFC castoff Paul Daley fights Scott Smith. Also on the card is Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland, and Antonio Silva vs. Valentijn Overeem.