Battered UFC 107 headliner Diego Sanchez recovering quickly, "90 percent healed"http://mmajunkie.com/news/17315/battere ... healed.mmaDespite a gutsy but bloody effort against lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 107, Diego Sanchez says he is already 90 percent healed.
The lightweight contender was tagged with a loss at UFC 107 after suffering a busted lip, facial cuts and a deep forehead gash that prompted a fifth-round TKO stoppage in the pay-per-view-televised main event.
Sanchez posted an update and photo on Twitter (@DiegoNightmare) overnight.
The fighter, who was floored early in the fight but survived for nearly five rounds, said he met with a plastic surgeon and chiropracter after the fight. The damage was so bad that Sanchez was unable to attend the post-fight press conference.
"His lip was really bad and cut down to here, to the skin part," UFC president Dana White said in the post-fight press conference while pointing just above his chin. "The forehead (cut) was very deep. He's pretty banged up."
Despite the initial concerns, Sanchez has bounced back rapidly in the 11 days since the Dec. 12 fight.
"I'm 90% healed with no scar," wrote Sanchez, whose forehead gash went to the bone and caused audible gasps from the crowd at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
Although Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar now appear to be the division's top two contenders, Sanchez could easily work his back into contention with a couple wins. The Tennessee Athletic Commission medically suspended Sanchez for 60 days (with no contact for 60 days) and required a CT scan, but Sanchez's quick recovery should mean a return in the first or second quarter of 2010.