Santos Knee Completely Damaged AT UFC 239
Anyone watching UFC 239 on July 6th knew that Thiago Santos’ left knee was not well.
Santos would suffer a knee injury in the early rounds of his light heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones, visibly limping for most of the fight, yet would still utilize his left leg to throw stiff leg and body kicks to the defending champion.
In a report from Combate and MMA Fighting, Santos is confirmed to not only have torn his MCL and his ACL, but all of the ligaments in his knee.
The news would come on Monday from an MRI, forcing Santos out for at least a year, marking the second time Santos would need knee surgery this year, after suffering damage to his right knee. That surgically repaired knee also suffered damage on Saturday night, but there needs to be further testing to see if surgery is needed.
“The fight was going exactly as we trained,” Santos said following the majority decision loss to Jones. “It was a good fight. I was seeing everything, all of his strikes, and was conscious during the fight. My knee really bothered me during the fight. I did everything I could in the conditions I was. It’s a fight. We’re never 100 percent sure that we will win, but I’m satisfied. I left everything in there even after injuring my knee in the first round.
“I fought four rounds on a southpaw stance, unable to move like I usually move, unable to throw the strikes I usually throw. I didn’t shock the world because of those circumstances, but I did what I could do in those conditions and I’m satisfied.”
“I think the fight was really close,” he added. “I think I hit him more than he hit me, but I don’t know. In the end I was very disappointed for what happened with my knee and that I wasn’t able to give my 100 percent.”
“I’m happy to get where I got, to challenge for the belt and fight five rounds when many people said I wouldn’t get past the second round. Even Jones himself said that if I went past the second round I wouldn’t survive and I proved it, so I’m happy.”
Report: MMA Fighting