Santos fought with torn ACL, MCL, PCL, meniscus
Marc RaimondiESPN
Thiago Santos fought most of his gentle 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 important 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 prone to be out for the remainder of 2019 and past.
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Jones gained the battle by cut up determination to retain the 205-pound title, however Santos fought extraordinarily nicely in defeat. It was the primary time Jones had ever gone to determination and misplaced on one of many choose’s scorecards.
Santo stated within the UFC 239 postfight media convention that he felt one thing give approach 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 combating successfully in opposition to Jones, who’s considered maybe the perfect 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 determination.
“I left every part in there even after injuring my knee within the first spherical,” Santos stated on the media convention, 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 circumstances and I am glad.”
Jones stated afterward that he was not conscious that Santos had an injured leg throughout the battle. He acknowledged that Santos made him look “dangerous” throughout the bout and used kicks to Jones’ calf as a key approach.
“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 house this gold for my household and staff. He was technically much more sound than I assumed. 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 approach longer than me.”
Santos (21-7) had gained 4 straight coming into the bout, together with the previous three since shifting up from middleweight to gentle heavyweight. In these three bouts, Santos gained by TKO or knockout. Santos, 35, has gained eight of 10 fights general.