Makhachev may miss the end of the year due to injury

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev talked about the hand injury he suffered in his fight with Dustin Puryear.

"After the fight with Dustin Porier, my knuckles were sore and a lot of other things. Taking time, everything heals little by little. But the hand kept bothering me. Had an MRI the other day. And they confirmed that there is a partial tear in the ligament. We'll see. If I can't repair it, I might even have to operate.

The fight on October 26th? It's a long shot. We haven't talked about the fight yet. I'm doing rehab every day now. We'll see how my hand feels.

I really want to perform before the end of the year. But I want to get in shape, to prepare - so that nothing bothers me. Before the last fight there were also a lot of small injuries, somehow everything accumulated - and I want to let my body recover. But I'm training, keeping myself in shape. Let's see what will happen," Makhachev said.