Junior dos Santos Provides Update Regarding Bacterial Infection in Leg

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Junior dos Santos initially thought he could battle through a bacterial infection in his left leg without missing his scheduled UFC Moscow bout against Alexander Volkov, but the injury ultimately proved to be more serious than originally anticipated.

The former UFC heavyweight champion ultimately spent more than a week in the hospital while undergoing two procedures to remove the infection. As a result, “Cigano” was forced to withdraw from the matchup with Volkov and was replaced by Greg Hardy in the Nov. 9 bout.

The 35-year-old Brazilian took to social media to provide an update — along with some grisly pictures — on his condition. Dos Santos’ Instagram story shows pictures of him in a hospital bed with a chunk of flesh missing from his leg and tubes inserted into the affected area.

“It’s been a long eight days here at the hospital guys,” dos Santos said in a video on Instagram. “I didn’t realize how severe this infection was, and I thought I could just treat it and get back to my training camp and fight Volkov in Russia.

“Unfortunately, it’s been a long road. I’ve been under general anesthesia three times this past week. I still have drain tubes running out of my legs, and I’m loaded up on medications. I’m very sorry to my opponent, for the Russian fans, and to all the MMA fans around the world. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Trust me.”

Dos Santos hasn’t competed since he had a three-fight winning streak snapped in a 71-second technical knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC on ESPN 3 on June 29.