"No meniscus damage" - Francis Ngannou gives an update on ACL reconstruction knee surgery
Francis Ngannou recently underwent knee surgery in Los Angeles, California, to repair his torn MCL and for the reconstruction of the ACL.
'The Predator' uploaded a post to his Instagram account where gave an update on the injury to his followers. Ngannou said the surgery went well and there was no meniscus damage. He wrote in the caption:
"Knee surgery went very well today (ACL reconstruction and MCL repare). PS: no meniscus damage. Thank you to Dr Alattrache and staff for taking great care of me. Rehab time to get everything back to normal and get back on track. Sincerely, THE KING"
Ngannou was last seen in action when he headlined UFC 270 against Ciryl Gane. 'The Predator' was aware of his injuries weeks before the fight but decided not to withdraw as he wanted to make a statement.
He showed off his much-improved wrestling skills and cruised to a unanimous decision victory against 'Bon Gamin'. This was the first loss of Gane's MMA career.
Francis Ngannou reveals the motivation for not pulling out of his UFC 270 fight
Francis Ngannou was having second thoughts on whether to go through with his fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. During his appearance on Brendan Schaub's Food Truck Diaries, the Cameroonian revealed that a conversation with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman inspired him to go ahead despite multiple knee injuries.
The UFC heavyweight champion said:
"One day, I spoke to Kamaru, he was in Africa... I've been around him for five weeks, multiple times. He reminds me everything that he's been through, his groin, his kneecap, all those stuff. And I'm like, 'Yeah, I can do it.' Being with him in the fight week [before one of Usman's fights], knowing all what's going on, I'm like,' Why he didn't call [off] this fight?' And then he [goes] out there and you see the performance that he executed, I'm like, 'S***! Something must be happening in there.' I think that's the moment that I decided that I'm not calling [off] this fight. He really inspired me at that time."
Watch Francis Ngannou's appearance on Food Truck Diaries below:
Ngannou is expected to be out of action for the next nine months as he recovers from the surgery. It is possible that an interim title fight could be scheduled in the meantime.