After an insane performance at UFC 275, it has been confirmed that Taila Santos will need surgery for a broken orbital bone she sustained during her fight with Valentina Shevchenko after an accidental clash of heads.
UFC 275 was a ridiculously great night of fights, but few fighters if any proved themselves more than Santos did in her fight with ‘The Bullet’. It was a combination of striking success and grappling domination, but one thing was for certain. Taila Santos was on fire.
However, the judges saw it differently and Valentina Shevchenko was awarded the decision victory after a full five rounds and 25-minutes of intensity. Santos was ushered to the hospital, where doctors discovered the broken bone and informed Santos and her team that surgery would in fact be inevitable.
Taila Santos Surgery Confirmed By Management, and What’s Next for the Flyweight Division?
Tiago Okamura, Santos’ manager, spoke to MMA Fighting about the situation:
“We had two options,” Okamura began. “To have surgery here, and God knows how long we’d have to stay how (long) the recovery would take, or wait two weeks for the swelling to reduce a little bit and then have the surgery.”
“The doctors said the long flight (back to Santos’ country of Brazil) would not be a problem, and we would have a better support (system) back home, since (Santos) would only stay with one person (in Singapore).”
Taila Santos (19-2, 4-2 UFC) gave the flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko more trouble than anybody has in recent memory. ‘The Bullet’ kept finding herself being taken down, and the Brazilian would find crafty ways to threaten submissions, take the back, and transition.
It was indeed the biggest challenge of Shevchenko’s career minus maybe the Amanda Nunes fights, but still, that is not bad company for Taila Santos’ name to be around.
What’s the Future of the Women’s UFC Flyweight Division?
So, what’s next for Valentina Shevchenko and the flyweight division? Well, it may be too soon to say. One thing that’s for certain is that Santos did look impressive enough to maybe even be worthy of an instant rematch. And if not, then things aren’t very open right now.
Top contenders in the top five have fights booked already. Katlyn Chookagian is #2 ranked in the world, but she’s already lost to Shevchenko and has a fight against #3 ranked Manon Fiorot scheduled.
The only fighter that’s ranked in the top ten and doesn’t have a match currently booked (who already hasn’t lost to ‘The Bullet’) is Casey O’Neil. She’s riding an insane four-fight win streak that includes a victory over the younger Shevchenko sister, Antonina. Who would you like to see face Valentina Shevchenko next, or should Taila Santos get an instant rematch?
Also, do you think the judges scored the fight wrong or did ‘The Bullet’ truly deserve the decision victory?