Santos Needs Surgery After Shevchenko Loss

UFC flyweight contender Taila Santos suffered a broken orbital bone and will require surgery after an accidental clash of heads against 125-pound champion Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC 275 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event last Sat. night (June 11) at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

“We had two options,” manager Tiago Okamura told MMA Fighting. “To have surgery here, and God knows how long we’d have to stay and how long the recovery would take, or wait two weeks for the swelling to reduce a little bit and then have the surgery. The doctors said the long flight [back to Brazil] would not be a problem, and we would have a better support back home, since [Santos] would only stay with one person [in Singapore].”

The injury took place in the fourth round of their 25-minute affair.

Santos nearly upset the flyweight apple cart by giving Shevcheno the toughest fight of her 125-pound career. After five rounds of back-and-forth action, the cageside judges scored the bout a split decision in favor of “Bullet,” which is likely to serve as a catalyst for an eventual rematch at some point in 2023.

The Brazilian’s recovery timeline has yet to be established.