After a week off, the UFC returns on December 2nd from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. In this article, I will highlight 3 fighters who are returning after notable injuries and periods away from the Octagon.
Drakkar Klose
Klose suffered a right ACL tear last year, and had surgical repair in October 2022. Has been out just over a year, which is an expected absence after surgical repair of the ACL. In his Instagram post below, the incision is visible on the front of his right leg. The location of this incision tells me that he had ACL reconstruction using his own patella tendon, which is still the gold standard for this surgery.
Fighters will still seek other methods of reconstructing a torn ACL, believing, in my opinion, that they can return to compete faster. This was the case with UFC flyweight Ketlen Souza, who underwent ACL reconstruction using a hamstring replacement. I penned an article on this back in September, and you can read it here.
Steve Garcia
The featherweight fighter will face Melquizael Costa on Saturday’s prelims. Garcia was forded out of his last scheduled fight in August due to a back injury that he suffered while training. In a recent interview with Hyon Ko of the AllStar, Garcia revealed that he traveled to the UFC Performance Institute for treatment just three weeks out from that scheduled fight vs Sean Woodson. He continued having pain throughout his time at the UFCPI, leading to the fight cancellation.
Acute episodes of back pain are very debilitating for a fighter. But the good news is that it can be treated successfully in a fairly short period of time, assuming there is no major damage such as a herniated disc, fracture, etc. His back injury occurred in July, and Garcia has made a full recovery in 3-4 months.
Julia Avila-Shumate
Julia “Raging Panda” last fought inside the Octagon in June of 2021. She then tore her left ACL prior to a scheduled bout in December of that year. She underwent surgical repair of the damage. It was during this time that she decided to use her down time to have a child. She now returns to fight in a surprisingly high profile bantamweight fight when she squares off against Miesha Tate.
I will be particularly interested in seeing Julia make weight for this fight. She looks to be on target to make weight, judging from her social media posts. Still, cutting weight could be more of a challenge for her following such a long absence.
Julia’s opponent, Miesha Tate, is herself returning from a tendon injury in her hand. She last fought a year ago. Tate had to scratch her scheduled bout in June of this year vs Mayra Bueno Silva due to the hand injury.
Something else of note- Drakkar Klose is now 37(?) years old. Maybe 36. I think he at an age where it’s tougher to return to fight at a high level that he’s accustomed to after ACL surgery. I know that’s the case in other sports such as football. MMA is a different sport, but still something to consider.
I’m very interested in this fight and how Klose fairs!
One fighter that I totally overlooked- Deiveson Figueiredo, who returns following eye surgery. He suffered the injury in his last fight vs Brandon Moreno, and had to pull out of a scheduled July fight against Manel Kape as he wasn't cleared medically. I'm not exactly sure if the injury was the eye itself, or the orbital bone structure surrounding the eye.
It'll be fun to see Figueiredo fight someone besides Mareno.