MANBEASTING 101
New UFC champ Junior Dos Santos fought with torn meniscus at UFC on FOX
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Junior Dos Santos (14-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee a week-and-a-half prior to his fight with Cain Velasquez (9-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX.
"I was feeling my knee a little bit, and I was worried about it," Dos Santos told MMAjunkie.com.
Dos Santos was advised by doctors that the injury wouldn't preclude him from fighting. But he now plans a follow-up to see what his immediate future holds.
UFC on FOX took place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The one-fight main card aired live on FOX while preliminary fights streamed live on Facebook and FOX.com.
Dos Santos ripped the UFC heavyweight title from Cain Velasquez's hands with a 64-second KO victory in the network-televised main event.
Immediately afterward, he admitted to being less than 100 percent leading up to the fight. And while adrenaline proved to be a good anesthetic, he worried about taking a kick that might further damage his knee, which he originally hurt while training jiu-jitsu.
Thankfully, things ended quick. But soon, he'll get word on whether his injury is serious enough to warrant surgery.
"I don't think so," Dos Santos said. "I'm feeling good."
Dos Santos, who said he was on crutches during the final lead-up to the fight, said his final week of training was limited to extensive rehab on the knee and working punching drills in the pool to minimize impact on the joint.
Dos Santos earned his eighth consecutive win in the octagon with his quick knockout of Velasquez. He said he had no preference on the date of his next fight, which will be against the winner of December's UFC 141 headliner between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem.
With his knee busted up, it may be a little later rather than sooner. Nevertheless, Dos Santos remained positive that he'll make a quick recovery and not suffer any extensive layoff.