Kowalkiewicz Requires Surgery, Titanium Plate

Former UFC strawweight title contender, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, suffered a broken face in her unanimous decision loss to Xiaonan Yan last month in Auckland, New Zealand, and will undergo surgery on Thursday in an attempt to repair the damage.

“I hope it wasn’t my last fight but now I’m focus (sic) on my health,” Kowalkiewicz wrote on her Instagram stories (via MMA Fighting).

Working against her, at least in terms of a comeback, is the fact that Kowalkiewicz (12-6) turns 35 in October. In addition, she’s now lost four straight fights and six of her last eight, slipping out of the Top 15 at 115 pounds.

Strawweight, currently ruled by Weili Zhang, has quickly become one of the more competitive divisions in UFC. Aside from UFC 248 co-headliner Joanna Jedrzejczyk, former division titleholder, Rose Namajunas, is very much in the mix, while the undefeated Tatiana Suarez is holding steady at No. 3.