Ariane Carnelossi will have to go under the knife after the damage caused by Piera Rodriguez’s controversial outing at UFC Vegas 92, her manager Tiago Okamura told MMA Fighting. Carnelossi is expected to have surgery early next week.
Rodriguez was disqualified by referee Mark Smith after two illegal headbutts were deemed intentional at the UFC APEX on May 18. Carnelossi’s team originally expected to avoid surgery, but told MMA Fighting that doctors advised the procedure to speed her recovery.
Carnelossi returned to Brazil days after the match and an MRI showed she suffered nose and zygomatic bone fractures, the latter potentially caused by the second headbutt.
According to Carnelossi’s doctor, she will have to stop training for a week after the procedure and then train with no impact to her face for a month. “Sorriso” could be 100 percent recovered from the zygomatic bone fracture in three months.
Rodriguez used her social media to attack the Brazilian after the fight, writing, “I rather lose a fight because of a mistake I did, than go home calling myself a ‘winner’ knowing I am a coward.”
Carnelossi, who will undergo surgery for the 14th time since joining the UFC in 2019, responded to Rodriguez on her social media, writing, “What people need to understand is that what often differentiates humans from animals are the rules.”