Former UFC champ Anderson Silva has surgery on broken leg
Anderson Silva breaks his leg in the second round of his bout against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC 168 in Las Vegas. (Dec. 28, 2013) Credit: Newsday/Mario Gonzalez
Anderson Silva kicked Chris Weidman and immediately collapsed, his left leg broken in two places and his quest to regain his middleweight title shattered.
The injury occurred in the second round at UFC 168 on Saturday night. Silva (33-6, 16-2 UFC) was carried out on a stretcher and went directly to an area hospital, where Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC's orthopedist, performed surgery. Sanders inserted an intramedullary rod into Silva's tibia and stabilized his broken fibula, the UFC said. No further surgery has been scheduled, and Silva is expected to need three to six months to recover.
No immediate decision on the 38-year-old Brazilian's fighting future has been made yet. Silva went undefeated as UFC champion for nearly seven years until he lost to Baldwin's Weidman last July and again on Saturday.
"Anderson Silva has been amazing," UFC president Dana White said. "He's one of the greatest of all time, if not the best ever."
