Junior dos Santos is happy to avoid serious danger after suffering a leg infection.
The UFC Moscow main event back in Nov. 2019 was expected to be dos Santos vs. Alexander Volkov. That changed when dos Santos was hospitalized with a leg infection. “Cigano” was told that had he fought through the pain and traveled to Moscow, he could’ve lost his leg at the minimum.
Leg Infection Was ‘Extremely Serious,’ Says dos Santos
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, dos Santos revealed what the doctor told him.
“It was extremely serious,” dos Santos told MMA Fighting. “I spent a week in the hospital thinking that I would get cleared and fight (Volkov), but the doctor came to me and said, ‘You don’t understand how serious this is.’ He said I was lucky to be a healthy man and that I went to the hospital soon enough, otherwise I could have gone straight to ICU.”
While dos Santos admits the infection was difficult to deal with, he’s grateful that he’s able to return to full health.
“That’s when I truly understood how serious the situation was,” he said. “The first thing that came to my head were my kids and my family, how fragile we are. I was feeling great, strong, happy, training for a fight… Everything going right, and all of a sudden this happens. It was a huge blow.
“I saw a movie in my head of everything I had dodged. It’s hard to explain how fragile we are. I take good care of myself and that helped me in this case to not only support this disease but also have a good and fast recovery.”
On Jan. 25, dos Santos will collide with Curtis Blaydes. The bout will serve as UFC Raleigh’s main event.
