Ronda Rousey Headed For Knee Surgery Next Tuesday; Won’t Need It For Broken Thumb

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey put on arguably her most dominant performance with a 16-second demolishing of Alexis Davis in the co-main event of last Saturday night’s (July 5, 2014) UFC 175 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And while Octagon announcer Joe Rogan put her on the spot by asking her to fill in vacant headlining spot of UFC 176, in reality that was very far from a possibility. It was found that Rousey needed nine stiches to close a cyst that burst under her knuckle, and planned on getting an arthroscopic knee procedure to fix a minor issue that had been plaguing her since she was 16.

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The champion also suffered a broken thumb while defeating Davis, so the break that “Rowdy” had been saying she needs will be a requirement, at least for the time being. Ariel Helwani revealed on UFC Tonight that she will not need surgery on her thumb, but is set to undergo the knee surgery next week:

 “Well of course, she had a very quick night, but she had some injuries to deal with afterwards. It was reported yesterday by the L.A. Times that she broke her thumb in that fight against Alexis Davis, but she will not need a cast, she will not need surgery on the thumb; of course you saw she had to get some stitches on her knuckle.

I’m also told by her team that she will have a scope on her right knee on Tuesday, it’s already been scheduled. It’s just routine stuff, and they expect the recovery to be around two weeks. They actually expect the knee to heal quicker than the hand, so she shouldn’t be out for too long.”

It sounds like a rather calm diagnosis for what could have been a rather lengthy time off for Rousey. The surging titleholder has defended her belt four times since her Octagon debut at UFC 157 in February 2013, and has earned a break.

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But with nearly every UFC champion injured in some shape or form, the promotion has never needed its leading lady more.

With the year-ending (or year-starting) UFC 182 card set to go down on January 3, 2015, will that be when we see “Rowdy” return to face “Cyborg” or Gina Carano, or will long-injured No. 1 contender Cat Zingano finally get her shot?

Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie for USA TODAY Sports