Thiago Santos Fought Jon Jones On A Torn ACL, MCL, PCL, And Meniscus

ESPN- Santos tore the ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus of his left knee in the UFC 239 main event Saturday night in Las Vegas, his manager Alex Davis confirmed with ESPN. Tests came back with that information Monday, Davis said.

Brazilian outlet Combate was the first to report the news. Davis said that Santos is likely to be out for the rest of 2019 and beyond. Santos also has a partial ligament tear in his right knee, Santos’ coach, Phillip Lima, told ESPN Brazil.

Jones won the fight by split decision to retain the 205-pound title, but Santos fought extremely well in defeat. It was the first time Jones had ever gone to decision and lost on one of the judge’s scorecards.

There are four primary ligaments that stabilize the knee, and Santos tore three of them, plus the meniscus, in his left knee. How he remained standing let alone able to challenge Jones through five rounds to a split decision, all while battling pain and instability, defies logic.

Listen, I’m no doctor, but from what I understand, you don’t wanna tear ALL of those things together. Maybe one…maybe two…maaaaayyyyyybbbbeeeee three. Maaaayyyyybbbbeeeee. DEFINITELY not all four, though. I’m pretty sure that’s like slicing off all four legs that hold a table up and still expecting it to work.

Thiago Santos went out there, though, tore everything that holds his knee together, and continued to take the greatest fighter of all time to his limit for five straight rounds – WINNING THE FIFTH AND FINAL ROUND, NO LESS – before losing a split decision when it went to the judges. With a jelly leg! A mashed-potatoes-on-the-inside-of-his-leg knee! Fucking unbelievable.

I do think Jones deserved the victory, I had him winning Rounds 2, 3, and 4, but Santos’ effort here is nothing to be ashamed of, clearly. He should be proud as fuck at the performance he put on, being it was one of the greatest anyone ever has put on against Jon Jones.