UFC light heavyweight Thiago Santos revealed on Resenha PVT -- a show from the Brazilian channel Portal Vale Tudo -- that he will be having surgery on Wednesday in Los Angeles on both knees.
Santos, who fought longtime UFC champion Jon Jones to a split decision loss on July 6, tore the ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus of his left knee in the fight.
It was later announced that he also had a partial ligament tear in his right knee.
"One of [the knees] was a certain thing," Santos said. "Then [my doctor] looked at my right knee and it turns out I will need a meniscus surgery on it, as well. Surgery will be performed [Wednesday]."
Santos (21-7) provided Jones -- arguably the greatest mixed martial artist ever -- one of the toughest tests of his career in the main event of UFC 239. The fight went the distance and one judge even scored it for Santos. The 35-year-old Brazilian said he suffered the left knee injury late in the first round after throwing a kick. Despite the pain, he continued to fight Jones (25-1-1) for the next four rounds.
Santos' doctor had no explanation on how that was possible.
"He said it's not normal," Santos said. "It could only be mental stuff. That there was no science to explain that."
Santos estimated he would be out of competition for at least eight months and will likely make his return to the Octagon in 2020.