Alistair Overeem is going under the knife for the very first time Wednesday morning.
The UFC heavyweight will undergo surgery in Florida to correct a pinched nerve in his elbow, Overeem informed MMAFighting.com. He wouldn’t specify which elbow was bothering him.
“Initially, I didn’t realize what it was and thought it would pass,” he said. “I thought [my injured] rib was worse, which it isn’t. So after 19 years of abuse to my body, I’m proud to now only have my first surgery.”
Overeem said his injured rib, which prevented him from accepting a fight against Junior dos Santos earlier this year, is “good as healed.” His doctor informed him the recovery time post-surgery would be approximately three weeks.
Overeem (37-13, 1 NC) snapped a two-fight losing streak in February when he defeated Frank Mir via unanimous decision at UFC 169.