An all-too-familiar foe has kept UFC flyweight Justine Kish out of action for most of 2018.
Kish, 30, announced Tuesday on social media that she is scheduled to undergo surgery this Friday in Los Angeles to correct a right knee injury she suffered in her controversial split decision loss to Ji Yeon Kim back at UFC on FOX 27 in January.
Kish said that her knee will “require another rebuild” as a result of the injury, which Kish said she has attempted to rehabilitate since UFC on FOX 27 through unsuccessful “progressive healing therapies.”
“In other words...my ACL, MCL, & PCL faces another revision,” she wrote. “While I am physically damaged and emotionally dented, my spirit and resolve are stronger than ever!”
Kish is no stranger to the operating table. A former TUF 20 contestant, Kish has suffered several major knee injuries throughout her MMA career, including a setback sustained while filming TUF 20 that sidelined her for two years prior to her 2016 UFC debut.
Repeated injury woes have prevented Kish (6-2) from establishing much momentum in the UFC since the show. After winning back-to-back fights over Nina Ansaroff and Ashley Yoder in 2016 to kick off her Octagon run, Kish has fought just once in both 2017 and 2018, losing hard-fought decisions to Felice Herrig and Kim to end the unbeaten start to her MMA career.
Kish’s full statement can be read below.