We may have seen the best Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 when he dethroned the lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, but it will be a little while before we see him again in the Octagon.
As reported Wednesday on UFC Tonight, the UFC’s new 155-pound champion will be on the shelf for three months with a partially torn MCL. Dos Anjos injured his right knee in training camp prior to the March 14 fight in Dallas, but was able to not only keep his appointment with Pettis, but to dominate the fight from bell to bell.
According to his manager Ali Abdel-Aziz, dos Anjos’ knee will not require surgery. Instead he will need to undergo an extensive rehab stint, which will allow him to start preparing for a fight in three months time. Abdel-Aziz also said that scar tissue had developed on his tendon, which needs time to heal.
Abdel-Aziz was in favor of dos Anjos’ pulling out of the fight with Pettis, but that he was ultimately overruled.
And the knee wasn’t the only ailment that dos Anjos was dealing with heading into his title fight with Pettis. UFC Tonight also reported that dos Anjos suffered an injury to his nose in his camp, which hindered his breathing. According to Abdel-Aziz, the right side of dos Anjos’ nasal passage was shut, and he had only 70 percent use on the left.
Dos Anjos is expected to defend the lightweight title against the winner of the Donald Cerrone vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, which takes place at UFC 187 on May 23.