Dr. David Abbasi explains whether Jan Blachowicz's leg kicks could have caused Aleksandar Rakic's knee to pop

Aleksandar Rakic (left) and Dr. David Abbasi (right) [Images via David Abbasi, MD on YouTube and @UltimateAppFan on Twitter]

Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic squared off in a pivotal bout at the UFC Apex this past weekend. The two top-ranked light heavyweights were looking to solidify their status as the clear-cut No.1 contender at 205 pounds. However, the bout came to an unfortunate end as Rakic picked up a knee injury in the third round.

Ringside physician Dr. David Abbasi, who regularly breaks down sports-based injuries on his popular YouTube channel, recently analyzed Rakic's injury and addressed speculation that it was caused by one of Blachowicz's kicks. He believes that 'Rocket' damaged his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and that it was a "non-contact" injury.

"It’s a non-contact injury. So immediately, we can pretty much presume that it was an ACL. And if you break down the slow-motion footage, you can actually see his tibia slide forward and then pop back into place. Or we call it a subluxation episode, which makes the ACL pretty much 100%."

After recreating the injury using the artificial knee model, Dr. Abbasi reiterated that it wasn't caused by any of Blachowicz's kicks.

"The other thing is that it was a non-contact injury. Which means it didn’t occur from somebody coming and clipping him from the outside of the knee or from the inside part of the knee. Now there was a lot of questions whether or not Blachowicz’s calf kicks could have caused this or led up to this ACL injury? The answer to that is: no. That would not have caused a ligamentous injury to the knee."

Watch Dr. David Abbasi discuss Aleksandar Rakic’s injury below:

Dr. David Abbasi also discussed how the injury happened three weeks prior to the fight, as was revealed in Aleksandar Rakic's post-fight statement on Instagram.

In the same Instagram post, Rakic congratulated Jan Blachowicz and went on to give his analysis of how the fight was playing out. He even demanded a rematch with the former champion upon his return to the octagon, citing "unfinished" business.

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Jan Blachowicz will likely fight the winner of the UFC 275 headliner next

Jan Blachowicz put himself back into title contention with his win over Aleksandar Rakic last Saturday. The Polish light heavyweight contender will be keeping a close eye on UFC 275 next month, where the 205-pound title will be contested.

Reigning champion Glover Texeira and rising star Jiri Prochazka are set to lock horns in the main event of the upcoming pay-per-view in Singapore.

Your 𝑶𝑭𝑭𝑰𝑪𝑰𝑨𝑳 #UFC275 poster has arrived 🖼

[ Sun. Jun 12 | Tickets on sale NOW 🔗ufc.ac/3IZi5b7 | #UFCSingapore | @VisitSingapore ] https://t.co/se5oDhnV6x

If Texeira emerges victorious, a rematch between the Brazilian MMA veteran and Jan Blachowicz will likely be the next light heavyweight championship bout. The duo initially squared off at UFC 267 last year, where Blachowicz was dethroned.

Texeira even sent words of encouragement to his former foe before the fight with Aleksandar Rakic.

The champ is rooting for Jan tonight 🤝 #UFCVegas54

(via @gloverteixeira) https://t.co/7niFTXgFbS