Thiago Santos sustained some serious injuries in his July split decision loss to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Despite his valiant effort, the Brazilian challenger exited the cage with a torn ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus in his left knee and a partially torn meniscus in his right.

Unsurprisingly, these injuries required Santos to go under the knife. Shortly after his fight, he underwent a complicated surgery to repair his badly damaged knees.

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“After four hours of surgery, the doctors say everything is fixed,” Santos wrote on Instagram shortly after his surgery. “Now my focus is on a full recovery so I can get back in there better and stronger!”

From there, his recovery began. And from the sounds of it, it was not easy. Roughly a week removed from his surgery, Thiago Santos took to Twitter to discuss the pain he was dealing with.

It’s been 7 days since the surgeries on my knees. I must admit, these days are tough, filled with a lot of pain. I can’t sleep or eat properly due to the medications. I even fear using the bathroom because the walk there is a battle. Thank God the pain is subsiding. pic.twitter.com/2oD39DEsvN

— Thiago Marreta (@TMarretaMMA) July 25, 2019

“I must admit, these days are tough, filled with a lot of pain,” Santos wrote on Twitter (via Bloody Elbow). “I can’t sleep or eat properly due to the medications. I even fear using the bathroom because the walk there is a battle. Thank God the pain is subsiding.”

The good news is that, after a challenging summer, Thiago Santos is now out of his knee brace — and he stills seems to be in fantastic shape.

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Given that he’s been out of commission, Thiago Santos does not currently have a fight booked. That being said, he remains one of the light heavyweight division’s top contenders, and could conceivably earn a rematch with Jon Jones quite soon based on the razor close nature of their first fight.

He’s recently been calling for a rematch with the champ, and the champ seems willing to grant him that opportunity.

I think that’s only fair https://t.co/FHYiuMMhhA

— BONY (@JonnyBones) July 25, 2019

“I think that’s only fair,” Jones wrote on Twitter when asked about a rematch with Thiago Santos.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/20/2019.