Anthony Pettis out for 6 weeks, dos Anjos out for 12

The main event at UFC 185 was a one-sided affair but, evidently, neither party has emerged unscathed.

Rafael dos Anjos revealed in the aftermath of winning the lightweight strap that he had injured his knee in sparring a number of weeks prior to the event. Despite restricting him in his training in the build-up to the bout, he still managed to dominate former champion, Anthony Pettis, throughout their five-round fight at the American Airlines Center in Dallas this past weekend.

At Saturday’s post-fight press conference the newly crowned champion seemed confident he would not require surgery.

“Actually I haven’t gone to the doctor yet. I need to get an MRI just to make sure,” he said. “I think it’s not bad. I will not need surgery. I felt a pop, but I think I will not need surgery.”

It has since been revealed that dos Anjos was correct in his diagnosis. The knee does not need to be operated upon, but it is expected to keep him sidelined for roughly three months. What will require surgery, however, is an injury the Brazilian suffered to his nose, which has significantly impaired his breathing. The injury, which was also sustained in preparation for the title clash, completely blocked the right side of dos Anjos’ nasal passage, while allowing him only 30% use of the left side.

Pettis, meanwhile, will be out of action for at least six weeks after having his orbital bone fractured by a colossal left hand in the opening frame of the fight. According to the former champion, he was unable to see out of his right eye after the damage was inflicted.

“Man, he caught me with the left hand, the first punch he threw, I couldn’t see out of my right eye the whole time,” Pettis told Joe Rogan immediately after the fight. “It closed up on me, I didn’t have any peripheral (vision).”

The heavily-fancied Pettis lost his title, with all three judges scoring the bout 50-45 in favour of dos Anjos. Pettis was unable to attend the post-fight press conference due to the injuries he sustained in the fight, and he remained in Texas for several days as a precautionary measure, before returning to his native Milwaukee midweek for follow-up treatment.

Having won the belt at UFC 164 in 2013 and defended at UFC 181 last year, Pettis will be eager to recover and get back to winning ways. Considering he fought the majority of the bout with a fractured eye socket and impaired vision, there will no doubt be questions over whether the former champion was at his best last weekend. For dos Anjos, there will be no looking back. As soon as he heals, he is expected to take on the winner of Donald Cerrone vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 187.