Eduardo Dantas to undergo surgery for fractured leg on Monday

Eduardo Dantas will have to go under the knife for the injuries he sustained at Bellator 202.

The former Bellator bantamweight champion, who lost to Michael McDonald in the first round of their co-main event bout Friday night in Thackerville, Okla., suffered a leg injury when he was dropped by “Mayday” early in the fight.

Dantas told MMA Fighting that he was rushed to a hospital in the United States, but doctors said he didn’t need surgery. However, the 29-year-old fighter visited a hospital as soon as he landed in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday for more exams, and three doctors concluded he needed emergency surgery.

“I’ll undergo surgery tomorrow afternoon,” Dantas told MMA Fighting on Sunday night. “I fractured the fibula and will have to have surgery mostly because of the fibula, but also because of the ligaments.

“I visited three doctors [in Brazil] and they said I needed emergency surgery. They said, ‘I don’t understand how those other doctors told you [you didn’t need surgery]. Your foot is too swollen and the bone is out of place. It’s an emergency.’”

Dantas is expected to start physical therapy in three weeks, and should be cleared to return to training in six weeks.

The 58-second defeat marked the first time in Dantas’ MMA career that he suffered back-to-back losses, dropping his Bellator record to 10-3.

Photo by Eduardo Dantas