Rafael dos Anjos undergoes successful nose surgery, plans return in late fall

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos underwent surgery on Thursday, and everything went fine.

dos Anjos, who defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 to become the first Brazilian to win the UFC 155-pound title, went under the knife to fix a nose injury that hindered his breathing before the biggest fight of his MMA career.

“The surgery was good. A lot better than I expected,” dos Anjos told MMAFighting.com on Friday. “Even with the gauze in the nose I can breathe way better than before.”

dos Anjos also suffered a knee injury prior to his title bout with Pettis, a partially torn MCL in his right knee, but he will avoid surgery.

“The nose recovery will be fast, but I went to the doctor on Wednesday to check my knee and he said I will be ready to return to strong training in two months,” he said. “But I’m swimming and bicycling so I won’t stop training.”

The lightweight champion is expected to face the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Donald Cerrone for his first title defense, but doesn’t see it happening before October.

“If everything goes right, late October or early November is a good date for me to return,” dos Anjos said. “It would give me a good time to prepare and don’t risk getting injured again.”

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos underwent surgery on Thursday, and everything went fine.

dos Anjos, who defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 to become the first Brazilian to win the UFC 155-pound title, went under the knife to fix a nose injury that hindered his breathing before the biggest fight of his MMA career.

“The surgery was good. A lot better than I expected,” dos Anjos told MMAFighting.com on Friday. “Even with the gauze in the nose I can breathe way better than before.”

dos Anjos also suffered a knee injury prior to his title bout with Pettis, a partially torn MCL in his right knee, but he will avoid surgery.

“The nose recovery will be fast, but I went to the doctor on Wednesday to check my knee and he said I will be ready to return to strong training in two months,” he said. “But I’m swimming and bicycling so I won’t stop training.”

The lightweight champion is expected to face the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Donald Cerrone for his first title defense, but doesn’t see it happening before October.

“If everything goes right, late October or early November is a good date for me to return,” dos Anjos said. “It would give me a good time to prepare and don’t risk getting injured again.”