Shogun Rua will have surgery to fix broken nose this week
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is headed back home and soon after to surgery after suffering a broken nose in his UFC Fight Night main event loss to Dan Henderson in Natal, Brazil.
Rua's manager Eduardo Alonso told FOX Sports on Monday that Rua will visit a doctor on Tuesday and will have surgery within the week, possibly as early as Wednesday.
The good news for Rua is that was the extent of his injuries suffered at the end of Dan Henderson's crushing right hand.
"His only injury is a broken nose, nothing too serious," Alonso said. "Other than that, all fine."
A broken nose usually takes several weeks to heal completely, but specific recovery time is dependent upon the severity of the fracture.
Rua had been in almost complete control up until the fight's final sequence. In the first two rounds of their 2011 rematch, he out-struck Henderson 73-21, and nearly finished him on two separate occasions. Henderson, however, completely turned the tide as the two broke from a clinch less than 90 seconds into the third round. As Rua circled to his left and seemingly free, Henderson uncorked a blistering right uppercut that shattered Rua's nose and sent him crashing backwards. A few more ground strikes and it was over.
Rua eventually walked off on his own power but was taken to a local hospital for observation, his nose mangled and twisted off to the left side.
It was the third loss in the last four fights for the 32-year-old Rua (22-9), who tweeted this morning that he would be spending some time with his wife and daughters. But first, surgery.
