After 11 months of suffering due to an acute pain in the pubis
(pelvic) area without having an accurate diagnosis from four
different doctors in the United States, Rafael dos
Anjos decided to come to Brazil to consult Dr. Rickson
Moraes.
An othropedic shoulder specialist who treats UFC fighters such as
Jose
Aldo and Ronaldo
Souza, Moraes conducted a series of exams with colleagues
Reinaldo Fernandes and Lourenco Peixoto, both of whom are hip
specialists. In a interview with Brazilian Youtube channel OSS
conducted by journalist Mario Filho,
Dr. Moraes explained why dos Anjos elected to have surgery.
“RDA was feeling that acute pain for last 11 months. But the
scenario got worse five months ago, three months before the fight
with [Paul] Felder, when he was running stairs. He was able to
fight but the pain worsened, and after a series of exams in U.S.,
he came to me in Brazil and I referred him to these two specialists
who work with me,” Moraes said.
After a couple of exams indicated that he was suffering from
athletic pubalgia, dos Anjos decided to have the surgery last week.
Athletic pubalgia is more commonly known as a sports hernia, which
is characterized by chronic lower abdominal and groin pain and is
caused by a tear of any soft tissue in that area. The injury can be
caused by repetitive movements, twisting the body and sudden
changes in direction.
“Drs. Fernandes and Peixoto did a great job and are pretty
optimistic that RDA will be able return in three months depending
on his recovery and physiotheraphy,” Moraes said.
The procedure likely nixes the possibility of having the Brazilian
face Islam
Makhachev in his UFC return. The lightweights were supposed to
fight on Nov. 14, but Makhachev had to withdraw from the bout and
was replaced by Felder. After besting Felder, dos Anjos
declared that he would prefer to face someone more highly ranked
than Makhachev. However, dos Anjos was not happy with the praise
Makhachev received leading up to his win over Drew Dober at
UFC 259, and agreed to face the Dagestani wrestler if a win would
get him a rematch with Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
With dos Anjos out until at least July due to the surgery, it’s
unclear if a matchup with Makhachev will come to fruition in the
future.
If your brother @TeamKhabib
fight me after I beat you let’s do it. https://t.co/V64Dwk4lH7— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA)
March 10, 2021
When I had the belt I asked Ali who was my
manager at the time for a rematch with Khabib but Ali always
protected his friend and kept him alway from me. I have no problem
to fight @MAKHACHEVMMA
but if his team believes in him so much I need @TeamKhabib
word he will fight me next.— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA)
March 14, 2021