Raphael Assuncao's Contender Status Hits Roadblock with UFC on FOX 5 Broken Arm

RAPHAEL ASSUNCAO'S CONTENDER STATUS HITS ROADBLOCK WITH UFC ON FOX 5 BROKEN ARM
BY DANN STUPP ON DEC 12, 2012 AT 10:00 AM ET

Raphael Assuncao has three straight victories, just defeated a top contender in Mike Easton, and appears on his way to a No. 1 contender's bout, if not a title shot.

But the UFC bantamweight's quick rise to contender status has hit a roadblock due to an injury.

On MMAjunkie.com Radio, Assuncao said he suffered a broken arm in his unanimous-decision win at this past Saturday's UFC on FOX 5 event, which aired as part of the FX-televised prelims at Seattle's KeyArena.

Assuncao, one of the handful of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts in his family, was 3-3 in his first six WEC and UFC fights. But with consecutive wins over Johnny Eduardo, Issei Tamura and now Easton (via 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 scores), who entered UFC on FOX 5 with eight straight victories, Assuncao has entered the title picture.

However, after the fight, he learned about the injury that will put him on the sidelines.

"It is the ulna, which is the smaller bone on the forearm, and it's not a very good feeling with the fracture," he said. "It's been handled, but as far as the pain goes, it's OK right now. The only thing is I might need to have a surgical procedure to keep that bone in place."

Assuncao (19-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) initially thought the break came in the first round, but after re-watching the fight on Monday, he realized it actually came at the beginning of the second. While throwing a spinning back kick, his arm also rotated. But when it connected with Easton (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Assuncao's arm snapped.

"It wasn't flexed all the way, so when I hit him with the forearm, the bone wasn't protected by the muscle," said Assuncao, who initially thought he had simply tweaked a ligament or nerve and opted to fight through it.

Doctors offered to do the surgical procedure in Seattle after the event, but Assuncao instead opted to have it done at home in Atlanta. Currently, he's researched a few potential options, but they all require surgery.

"You have to open it up, the cut has to heal, then your body has to absorb the plate and stuff," he said. "(It'll be) at least three months before I can punch the bag again."

With UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz's return delayed by a second ACL injury, interim champ Renan Barao and challenger McDonald will headline UFC on FUEL TV 7 in London in February. Those three bantamweights are the only ones in the UFC who have longer win streaks than Assuncao's.

He knows his upcoming injury layoff comes at a terrible time, but Assunaao said he's simply looking at the positives from the weekend win. Even though his arm will require some work, he's a much better fighter after picking up such a big win on such a big stage.

"I'm happy [to be in the title picture]," he said. "I feel it's coming. I keep doing the right thing. Now I have a little longer of a healing process coming up. But yeah, it was a great experience. I was talking to my brother, and experience is nothing anyone can take from you.

"Even if it's a long healing process, no one can take the experience away from you."