LAS VEGAS – The first big right hand Ronda Rousey threw at Alexis Davis at UFC 175 wasn’t just the beginning of the end for her opponent – it also did a number on the hand throwing the punch.
The UFC women’s bantamweight champion ended up needing to take nine stitches on the index finger of her right hand following her 16-second finish of Davis on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The force of the punch caused a cyst underneath her knuckle to explode.
Rousey explained the situation at the post-fight press conference.
“It turns out over the last two camps, I kept ripping my knuckle open, and I just kept covering it up and hitting on it, so, it ended up getting infected, and I had a cyst on one of my knuckles,” Rousey said. “After the [Sara] McMann fight [at UFC 170], I should have taken it more seriously and gone to the doctor and checked it out, but I kind of ended up dismissing it and I kept ripping it open.”
“Hopefully the cyst is actually gone, I’m going to go to the doctor and make sure,” Rousey added.
Meanwhile, that’s not the only item on the champ’s medical agenda. As Rousey noted in her post-fight interview, she’s going to have to undergo knee surgery soon.
In this case, this is more the result of a buildup from years of participating in combat sports.
“The knee surgery is something that’s more maintenance that I need to be doing,” Rousey said. “It’s not a major thing at all, it’s just a scope and I want to be 100 percent.”
At least Rousey’s looking on the bright side.
“Right hand, right knee,” she said. “But I’m left-handed so its all good.”