Uros Medic knocked out Daniel Rodriguez in 30 seconds in front of his home crowd with a torn meniscus, and he is now facing surgery for it.
Medic told MMA Junkie that the injury happened on the Monday of fight week, during a routine warmup. His knee popped out of place, popped back in when he straightened his leg, then immediately filled with fluid and swelled.
UFC Performance Institute staff examined it and ruled out ACL damage, telling him it looked like a meniscus injury instead. He declined medication and had tissue work done to bring the swelling down, then limped through the rest of fight week hoping the news would not get out.
Pulling out was never seriously on the table. Medic was headlining the UFC’s first ever event in Serbia, and said his team agreed they were going in even if it meant fighting on one leg.
He then needed half a minute to finish Rodriguez, collecting a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus and extending his winning run to four fights. He has now won five of his last six.
The timing is awkward. Medic called out Leon Edwards in the cage afterward, a matchup that makes sense with Medic ranked just below him at welterweight. Surgery is scheduled for the coming days and there is no return timeline yet.
