Junior dos Santos defeated Alan Belcher with an overwhelming KO to become the inaugural Gamebred Bare-Knuckle MMA Heavyweight Champion, but he didn't come out of the fight unscathed.
Early in the fight, Dos Santos was battling with Belcher near the cage and broke free, but caught a punch that sent his nose flying to the opposite side of his face. For the remainder of the match, the former UFC heavyweight champion fought with a cut down the middle of his face and his nose dismembered in two places.
He vividly remembers when it happened, but surprisingly, the Brazilian felt nothing.
“The only punch that really worked for me was the one that broke my nose,” dos Santos told MMA Fighting. “When he broke it, I felt it. If you watch the video, you can see it, it felt like his nose was tipped to the side. [of my face] I said, “Oh my god, I broke my nose!” I didn't feel anything, but it was like, “My nose is broken again!” A broken nose, a lot of blood, and a bloody fight, but that was it. I was a little worried because I couldn't breathe through my nose, but they took care of me very carefully.
“That was crazy. I can clearly see, in fact, I know that moment. He threw a hook while I was in the cage, and I kind of pulled back, but the hook only went to the nose. I was connected. I didn't feel anything, but I felt that way. [the nose] I went to the side and said, “Oh, again?” After that, I had trouble breathing through my nose. I said, “Okay, I'll breathe through my mouth, that's normal.”
Dos Santos revealed that this incident was actually the fourth time he had broken his nose, but the first time it had happened in a fight.
Dos Santos has never suffered a broken nose during a match despite a long career of competing in martial arts spanning almost 20 years, but it's strange to wonder what his past was like. Knowing that helped him cope with the adversity after Belcher's punch left. He can't breathe properly.
“The other three times, the first and the third, I was in training,” Dos Santos said. “The second time the doctor broke my nose because he was fixing it. But it didn't work because the second time he fixed it I broke it again. Stop fighting. I said I wasn't going to fix it anymore, so this was the fourth time I'd broken my nose.
“I didn't feel anything. I just felt like it was lying there and I said, 'Oh my God, I'm going to have to breathe through my mouth now.' But maybe that experience brought me something positive. Because if I didn't break my nose, I might get too excited and maybe even get really scared. I already knew how to deal with it, so I said let's go. When it was broken by the punch, I didn't feel anything and was only connected by my nose. When they put it back it went back to the right place, I didn't feel anything either. It was easy. Maybe I heated it too much, but I don't like feeling pain, so it was good. ”
In the aftermath of the fight, dos Santos quickly began to feel better after doctors put his nose back in place. After a few days, he was breathing normally again.
Dos Santos has broken his nose multiple times and knows there's a good chance it will happen again, but that's why he decided not to undergo surgery to repair the damage until the end of his career. This is also the reason.
“The doctor said to me, 'Oh my god, your septum is messed up. You're going to have to have surgery or something.'” I said, “Don't worry. , sir, it's been like that for years,'' dos Santos said with a laugh. “'Don't worry.'
“Now the situation is the same as before. I can breathe very well from the right side. [the left side] It's a little suffocating, but [the right] That's excellent. So let's leave it like this for a little while. ”
Dos Santos crushed Belcher with punches in the second round for the victory, and his recovery from injury became much easier. It was a special moment for the 40-year-old veteran. He faced a number of losses and was then sidelined for more than a year with a shoulder injury before returning in September of this year.
Dos Santos, who is currently on a two-fight winning streak, has high praise for his recent accomplishments and is excited to get back to work once his nose heals.
“It feels very special,” dos Santos said. “I feel really good. I feel like it's a new start for me again. Now I'm watching the game and thinking about how I handle myself when I go into the game, not just physically but mentally. With every match, I'm getting a lot better because I'm learning. Even when I broke my nose during a fight, I finally started having fun fighting. I really enjoy it.
“Because in previous matches, I was fighting against myself before the match. Now that I have experience, I'm not putting pressure on myself. [on myself] already. I just go there to perform well and put on a good show for all the fans there. Things became completely different for me. I'm really enjoying it, I'm having fun. ”
