After suffering a terrible eye injury from Valentina Shevchenko's defeat, Taila Santos, UFC title challenger, will need surgery.
At UFC 275 in Singapore, Shevchenko challenged the Brazilian flyweight queen and lost a contested split decision.
After an unfortunate clash of heads, Santos suffered a setback in round 3.
She pushed the champion to the finish, but was only able to lose the hand.
However, the earlier fight resulted in a fractured orbital bone under the right ear and a visit to the hospital.
Santos was taken to the local hospital right away after the loss, but he has decided to undergo surgery in Brazil.
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Tiago Okamura, her manager, told MMA Fighting that there were two options.
"To have surgery here, but God knows how long it would take and how much recovery time we would need, or wait for swelling to subside for two weeks before having the surgery.
"The doctors told us that the long flight was not a problem and that we would have better support back home. Since [Santos] would only be with one person [in Singapore],]
Many scored the fight in favor of Santos (28), causing Shevchenko (34), to defend the result at the post-fight press conference.
FREE BETTING AND SIGN-UP DEALS - THE BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERINGSShe stated, "I did all I could."
"I had challenging fight. I had five rounds and it was exactly what I wanted. An opponent who doesn't give up even in the second round and fights until the end.
"In this type of fight, you can show your true self. Your character, your mindset. No matter how hard or difficult.
"She was inactive and me being in that position, I was striking and feeling the power and the strikes. I felt how she treated it because it was hurting.
Mixed Martial Arts is all about damage.
"I could feel that in the fight round to round you could see more damage being shown on her face."
