The UFC have released an update on Anderson Silva’s condition just hours after he broke his leg in the second round of his title fight with Chris Weidman at UFC 168 in Las Vegas last night.
“Following Saturday evening’s UFC 168 main event, former champion Anderson Silva was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg. The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, inserted an intramedullary rod into Anderson’s left tibia. The broken fibula was stabilized and does not require a separate surgery. Anderson will remain in the hospital for a short while, but no additional surgery is scheduled at this time. Recovery time for such injuries may vary between three and six months.
“Anderson is deeply touched by the outpouring of support from his fans and the entire MMA community. There has been no immediate decision about his future, and he would kindly ask for privacy at this time as he deals with his injury and prepares to return home to recover.”
According to Dana White in a post-fight interview, Silva’s cornermen told him that the fighter had actually cracked with the first hard kick he threw that was checked, but despite his leg feeling “weird” he later threw another one, and that’s when his leg broke.
Silva was clearly in complete and utter agony inside the cage following the horrifying injury and had to be quickly stretchered out of the Octagon.
Soon after, MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, who’s covered dozens of UFC events in his career, said on Twitter that he had witnessed Silva, “yelling at the tops of his lungs” backstage and that, despite covering dozens of UFC events in his career, he’d, “never heard anything like it.”
Silva was immediately rushed into hospital and was in surgery by the time the post-fight press conference began.
Thankfully it appears the surgery was a success, but it’s going to be a long time before the former champion and all-time great mixed martial artist can even walk again, let alone think about fighting again, and there’s every chance that last night was the last time we’ll see him compete in the Octagon.
Either we’d like to wish him a full, speedy and pain-free recovery from one of the worst injuries ever seen in the Octagon.
