Kyle Daukaus had a tough night at the office at UFC On ESPN 37 last month when he was KO’d in just 73 seconds by a knee strike courtesy of Roman Dolidze, and he’s now revealed the full extent of the damage that the blow caused.
“During the fight, I got kneed, obviously,” Daukaus said on Instagram. “As soon as the knee landed, it kind of broke my face in three places.
“The scans I got, I had two orbital fractures, and I think I had a fracture in my eye as well underneath.
“I went to the doctors obviously immediately after the fight. I was there kind of all night, came home probably about 11 o’clock. I could’ve stayed in Austin and went and had the surgery the following week but I kind of just wanted to go home and be where I’m comfortable at.
“So I flew home, went down to Jefferson Hospital, and got everything taken care of, got one of the best doctors to fix my face and everything like that.
“Surgery went well, it was last Thursday. I got three plates put in unfortunately in my face. I’ve got three plates on my actual face, and then I have one underneath my eyeball, too, but the one underneath my eyeball isn’t really a plate.
“It just kind of molds to my bone, so it will eventually become one as opposed to the ones that are actually screwed in my face and my cheekbone. But yeah, things like this happen.
“I have about six to eight weeks of recovery, the doctor said, which is far quicker than I thought it was going to be, I thought it was going to be out at least a year.
“Looking at the bright side of it, it’s six to eight weeks until pretty much full contact, so it’s something that’s exciting in a way. But again, I’m in no rush to get back in there and get to hard training.”
The 29-year-old Daukaus currently holds a 2-3 (+1nc) record in the UFC and is perhaps most remembered for a bizarre fight with Kevin Holland last year, during which an accidental clash of heads flash-KO’d his opponent.
The ref failed to stop the fight and with Holland still dazed, Daukaus choked him unconscious soon afterwards, though the official soon realized his mistake and declared the bout a no-contest.
