As we enter 2024, I want to give a big thank you to all who have subscribed to the MMAInjury Update. Your support has fueled my wish to continue producing MMA injury-related content, and for that I thank you! I look forward to 2024, and what is to come in the MMA world. As for this newsletter, I hope to grow and explore other content avenues, including premium content offerings and maybe a podcast. I do this thing on the side as a labor of love, so I want to do what I can to get the most relevant information out there, to you, within the time I have budgeted to do it! If you have comments or suggestions on the content, or things you would like to see here, please comment!
But for now, it’s time to look at some current fighter injuries, and three fighters set to return after long injury absences.
Tainara Lisboa
This bantamweight fighter made her UFC debut in 2023, but after two fights, she has been sidelined with a left knee injury and surgery. She injured the knee her fight camp leading up to her last fight vs Ravena Oliveira. She secured a decision win in that bout, but her left knee was still compromised, and she underwent surgery in early December.
Her social media posts have been interesting to me. Her left knee has been immobilized in a fully straight knee position, and she is still non-weight bearing on the leg, a full month from the surgery. In an interview with a Latin America sports website, she noted that she has some restrictive precautions in the post-operative phase of her recovery, including “not being able to bend my leg and step on the ground” for about 6 weeks.
Limitations such as this strongly suggest that she had surgery involving the articular cartilage surfaces of the knee. Ligament repairs, including ACL surgery, typically do not have these limitations. Full healing of surgery to address articular cartilage damage can take some time, and the limitation of motion of the knee is meant to protect the healing areas of her knee. Lisboa has stated that she wants to have a fight announced in July or August of 2024. While she may book a fight in those months, I doubt she will actually fight until October or later.
Giga Chicadze
Giga tore his right groin during sparring in early December, and was forced out of his scheduled UFC 296 fight vs Josh Emmett. Giga updated his status on Instagram, and he is being treated with stem cells and rehab. He expects to be back in early 2024.
This is a good sign for Giga, as it appears he will avoid surgery. These injures respond well to local treatment and rehab. There is some evidence in the literature that treating acutely injured tendon tissue with stem cell therapy can reduce the inflammatory response associated with the injury, and help to restore the injured tissue to a state closer to normal. I look for Giga to announce a fight date some time late this month or February.
Fighters Returning from Injury
Brian Ortega
‘T-City’ will fight Yair Rodriguez February 24th in a UFC Fight Night event. He has been out of action since suffering a shoulder dislocation injury to his right shoulder while fighting this same Yair Rodriguez in July of 2022. His injury was repaired surgically- his second on this shoulder. I wrote about Ortega’s shoulder injury back in October. I discussed my concern that Ortega may have ongoing issues with the shoulder, and my concerns are related to how the injuries occurred leading to his surgeries. (Check it out below.)
Calvin Kattar and Aleksandar Rakic
Both of these UFC fighters suffered right ACL knee injuries in their lasts fights. Kattar was injured in his October 2022 fight vs Arnold Allen, and Rakic in the May 2022 fight vs Jan Blachowicz. Now, both fighters are set to return on the highly anticipated UFC 300 fight card April 13th. It appears that both have been in no hurry to return, which I think will serve them well. In my opinion, waiting at least one year to fight again after ACL reconstruction is wise, rather than rushing back to fight in 8-9 months. The extra months of recovery actually allows more time for the new ACL to incorporate well in the knee and start developing the all important vascular supply.