Dillashaw undergoing surgery for injured knee

The former champion does not expect to be away for too long. 

T.J. Dillashaw is going to need surgery to repair one of the injuries he sustained during his fight with Cory Sandhagen at UFC Vegas 32 last Saturday.

Dillashaw revealed on Tuesday morning that he underwent an MRI scan that showed multiple tears in his knee. These tears will require surgery, which he is expected to undergo soon. Dillashaw also briefly addressed his recovery process and it sounds like he is not going to be on the sidelines for an extended period of time.

“Went in for a MRI today, found out that I suffered a displaced Bucket Handle tear of the Lateral Meniscus and a Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) rupture at the end of the first round landing ground and pound while being lazy in a compromised position,” wrote Dillashaw.

“The good news is that these tears are repairable and will have a very speedy recovery. Going in for surgery in the next couple days. Loved being in the cage even though I had to push through some adversities to grit out the win. Thank you for the support, it’s belt season now.”

Dillashaw knew his knee was injured by the end of the first round of the fight. During one of their scrambles on the ground, Sandhagen attacked the left leg of Dillashaw and went for a heel hook for a few seconds before they returned to their feet. The horn signifying the end of the round blared, and Dillashaw appeared to walk to his corner with a slight limp. He quickly explained to his cornermen that his knee popped.

The former two-time bantamweight champion fought on with said comprised knee — and a gruesome cut on his eyebrow — for another four rounds and earned a split decision win over Sandhagen. He told Daniel Cormier during his post-fight interview that his gameplan had to be adjusted in light of the injury, which he attributed to his laziness while in the heel hook.

“My knee, I popped it in that first round,” said Dillashaw. “I got lazy, I knew he had a leg lock and I was just chilling on top. Got lazy and let him pop it there at the end. I couldn’t throw my hooks in. When I took him down, one time I tried to throw my hook in, my knee popped and I had to bail out. So I kinda stopped and I took his back. My gameplan was to throw the hooks in and that went out the window obviously, you know.”

Dillashaw returned to the top of the division and secured a No. 2 spot following his defeat of Sandhagen. He has said that he would like to meet the winner of the championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan that has been agreed upon for UFC 267 in October.