Mino in UFC publicity photo
His fight with Frank Mir didn’t turn out quite the way he’d expected it to. Starting out strong and nearly coming up with the knockout, Rodrigo Minotauro ended up succumbing to an arm lock with some dire consequences. With the result, Frank Mir achieved two landmarks: he became the first man to both knock out and tap out the Brazilian in his 41-fight career. Now Rodrigo has added a new scar on his body, having undergone surgery this Saturday. On the Nogueira brothers’ blog (Nogueirabrothers.com.br), Dr. Tom R. Hackett, the head of the team of surgeons who treated Minotauro, addresses the fighter’s injury and recovery:
“Mr. Nogueira suffered a complex fracture to his humerus. The fracture began in the middle of the bone and extended to the elbow region. Unfortunately, the radial nerve (one of the main nerves lending a feeling of power to the hands) was damaged. The nerve is located in the area of the fracture, and the bone compressed it. Before the operation, he had very little strength in his hand and no strength whatsoever in his thumb,” explained Hackett.
“The operation involved an incision behind the arm. The nerve was removed from the location of the fracture and treated. The fracture was fixed with a plate and 16 screws, and now, less than 12 hours post-op, his hand functions are returning and the bone is mending,” he adds.
Minotauro already has a return date on the horizon and I has already begun recovery exercises.
“We planned to start out with a series of movement exercises today, and we’ll start reinforcing it next month. If all goes well, he’ll be back to full training in the coming months and should be 100% to fight in six months or less. We foresee him making a complete and full recovery,” he says in finishing.
