Santos tore ACL, MCL, PCL, meniscus in UFC loss
Marc RaimondiESPN
Thiago Santos fought most of his mild heavyweight title bout with Jon Jones on primarily one leg.
Santos tore the ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus of his left knee within the UFC 239 fundamental occasion Saturday night time in Las Vegas, his supervisor Alex Davis confirmed with ESPN. Exams got here again with that info Monday, Davis stated.
Brazilian outlet Combate was the primary to report the information. Davis stated that Santos is more likely to be out for the remainder of 2019 and past.
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Jones received the struggle by break up resolution to retain the 205-pound title, however Santos fought extraordinarily effectively in defeat. It was the primary time Jones had ever gone to resolution and misplaced on one of many decide’s scorecards.
Santo stated within the UFC 239 post-fight press convention that he felt one thing give means in his left knee on the finish of the primary spherical. By the fourth and fifth rounds, Santos was clearly favoring the leg, however nonetheless preventing successfully towards Jones, who’s considered maybe the very best pound-for-pound MMA fighter of all time.
Two judges really had Santos successful the fourth spherical and one had him successful the fifth. Some felt Santos had even performed sufficient to win in a detailed resolution.
“I left all the things in there even after injuring my knee within the first spherical,” Santos stated on the presser, by a translator. “I fought 4 rounds on a southpaw stance, unable to maneuver like I often transfer, unable to throw the strikes I often throw. I did not shock the world due to these circumstances, however I did what I might do in these situations and I am happy.”
Jones stated afterward that he was not conscious that Santos had an injured leg throughout the struggle. He acknowledged that Santos made him look “dangerous” throughout the bout and used kicks to Jones’ calf as a key method.
“Boy, was he powerful,” Jones stated. “All of us knew Thiago’s greatest probability was to knock me out. I performed it good and introduced dwelling this gold for my household and group. He was technically much more sound than I believed. Thiago Santos is a black belt in Muay Thai. I am happy with myself, as a result of I stood with a man who’s been kickboxing means longer than me.”
Santos (21-7) had received 4 straight coming into the bout, together with the final three since transferring up from middleweight to mild heavyweight. In these three bouts, Santos received by TKO or knockout. Santos, 35, has received eight of 10 fights total.