It sounds like Yamauchi is going to be out for a while.
Goiti Yamauchi suffered a serious injury in his loss to Michael Page at Bellator 292 this past Friday.
In perhaps one of the most gruesome finishes of the year thus far, Page sent Yamauchi to the canvas with a knee-shattering kick that saw their fight end in 26 seconds. The Bellator veteran was tended to by cageside physicians, stretchered out of the cage and rushed to a local hospital, where he received an X-ray of his right knee.
“Based on the X-ray, it’s a patella tendon rupture,” said the Bellator president at the post-fight press conference. “So that sounds very painful.”
Dr. David Abbassi — the orthopedic surgeon known for his injury explanations — says Yamauchi is going to need surgery to ‘bring his knee together,’ which will ‘allow him to extend it again.’
Per the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), recovery from surgery can be between 6 to 12 months. With that potential timeline, Yamauchi could be sidelined until next year.
In his post-fight press conference, Page said he was concerned for the Brazilian after seeing him collapse. For that reason, ‘MVP’ said he cut his post-fight celebration short.
“I saw him go down and I just thought, I don’t know — nerve [damage] or whatever,” said Page (video provided by MMA Junkie). “But when I saw him grasp his leg, I was like, ‘He’s not getting back up.’ I didn’t see the lump [in his kneecap] until I looked up at the screen. I’m in my celebrating element, and then I actually looked up to see what it was, and it kind of took the energy out of me.”
Prior to his loss, Yamauchi was on a three-fight win streak.
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About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)