Deiveson Figueiredo suffered a severe knee injury during his recent fight loss against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Des Moines. However, the former two-time flyweight champion has received good news: he will not need surgery to repair the damage.
On Thursday, Figueiredo’s manager, Alex Davis, confirmed that the Brazilian fighter tore the anterolateral ligament in his knee. Fortunately, the injury was not severe enough to warrant surgery. Instead, Figueiredo is focusing on physical therapy, which is already underway, and resting his knee to allow it to heal.
The injury occurred in the second round during a grappling exchange. As Sandhagen moved into a sitting position, his legs became tangled with Figueiredo`s, causing Figueiredo to immediately show clear signs of pain in his knee. Moments later, Figueiredo tapped out, leading to the fight being stopped and Sandhagen being declared the winner via TKO due to the injury.
Davis described the injury as “very painful.” He added, “But he did not get finished. It was just a freak accident.”
Replays seemed to show Figueiredo’s knee pop during the grappling sequence when Sandhagen sat up, and the visible pain on Figueiredo`s face was undeniable. Figueiredo required assistance leaving the octagon and subsequently returned home to Brazil for medical attention.
With the diagnosis confirming that surgery isn`t necessary, Figueiredo is reportedly “already asking to fight again.” He is hopeful he can return to training sooner rather than later.
This was an unfortunate outcome for the fight, especially as Figueiredo was hoping to regain momentum when he faced Sandhagen during the UFC`s event in Iowa. This defeat marked Figueiredo`s second consecutive loss since he transitioned to the bantamweight division, where he had previously secured three impressive victories.
While there is currently no specific timeframe for Figueiredo`s next bout, Davis stated that the fighter is eager to resume competing once his knee has recovered and anticipates hitting the ground running.
Marcus Blakely