Rafael dos
Anjos claims multiple surgeries forced his long hiatus.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder returns
to the Octagon after nearly two years against Alexander
Hernandez at UFC 332 on
Oct. 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Brazilian suffered a
90-second stoppage loss after injuring his left knee in his last
outing against Geoff Neal in
October 2024.

Rafael dos Anjos details the knee surgeries that threatened his
UFC career

In a recent interview, dos Anjos revealed that he has since
undergone three surgeries on his left knee. A doctor in Brazil
initially stitched up his meniscus, which apparently was a big
mistake. He again tore his meniscus after a few months and
underwent surgery in Austin, Texas, in the U.S.

However, the American doctor allegedly left some stitches inside
dos Anjos' knee, which subsequently led to inflammation. The former
champ then went under the knife for the third time earlier this
year. He admits that the thought of hanging up his gloves has
crossed his mind in the meantime. However, the 41-year-old notes
that he hasn't been dominated in his losses and wants to give it
one more shot.

“I had three surgeries back-to-back,†dos Anjos told Ariel Helwani.
“After the Geoff Neal
fight, I had meniscus surgery, and the doctor in Brazil made a
mistake. He actually tried to stitch up my meniscus, which was a
terrible mistake. Four or five months after the surgery, my
meniscus tore again, so I had to redo it. I had to have the
meniscus removed, and the doctor in Austin, Texas, left a couple of
stitches inside my knee, believe it or not. It was causing
inflammation. I couldn't get full extension, and then I had surgery
for the third time at the beginning of this year. For a second, I
thought, ‘Man, this is it.' But looking at my results, I'm coming
from losses, but I haven't been dominated. I want to give it a
chance. I still have four more fights on my contract.â€

Now healthy, dos Anjos (32-17) will look to rebound from a
three-fight skid against Hernandez (18-9), who is coming off a loss
against Rafa Garcia
that snapped a four-fight winning streak.

Rafael dos
Anjos reveals he's undergone three surgeries since his last UFC
appearance in October of 2024:

“I had three surgeries back-to-back. After the Geoff Neal
fight, I had meniscus surgery, and the doctor in Brazil made a
mistake. He actually tried to stitch up my meniscus,… pic.twitter.com/m69MVGqzRO

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
August 26, 2026

Sean
Brady claims Carlos
Prates doesn't have the tools to deal with Islam
Makhachev's wrestling.

Michael
Morales (19-0) and Prates (24-7) are the leading contenders for
the next
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title shot against
Makhachev (29-1). Brady believes Morales will give Makhachev a
harder time than Prates will, citing how the Ecuadorian is more of
an unknown and his grappling hasn't been put to the test in the
UFC.

Sean Brady explains why Michael Morales poses a tougher test
for Islam Makhachev

While Brady (19-2) acknowledges Prates' dangerous knockout power,
he believes Makhachev will have his way against the Brazilian on
the ground. Brady notes that we're yet to see Morales get
challenged on the ground, hence making him more of a puzzle for the
UFC welterweight champ.

“I think Prates can knock anybody out, for sure,†Brady told Ariel
Helwani. “Out of Prates and Morales, everyone's gonna say I'm
biased because I lost to Morales, but I think Morales will give
Islam a harder time. I was asking for the Carlos Prates fight, so
I've gone back and done the tape study on him, where I've seen guys
in One FC take him down and beat him on the ground. I think Islam
will be able to do the same thing, whereas with Morales, we still
don't know how good he is. We still don't know how good his ground
game is. We don't know how good his cardio is. We don't know all
these things, and I think that's gonna play a lot more of a
factor.â€

Morales hasn't fought since finishing Brady last November and the
latter believes the unbeaten 170-pounder needs to beat either
Ian
Garry or Shavkat
Rakhmonov before fighting for the title. Moreover, Makhachev
has already set his sights on Prates for his second title defense
at welterweight.

Meanwhile, Brady rebounded from the loss to Morales with a dominant
decision win over Joaquin
Buckley. He is now scheduled to fight Gabriel
Bonfim (20-1) on Nov. 7 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Sean Brady
explains why he believes Michael
Morales has a better chance of beating Islam
Makhachev than Carlos
Prates:

“I think Prates can knock anybody out, for sure. Out of Prates and
Morales, everyone's gonna say I'm biased because I lost to Morales,
but I think Morales will… pic.twitter.com/CVsJ9iXD5m

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
August 26, 2026

Ronald
Humphrey doesn’t have any shortage of confidence when it comes
to his appetite for violence.

Humphrey, who recently beat Alexis
Miranda on
Dana White's Contender Series via submission to earn an

Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, grabbed fans'
attention for his killer instinct. He has since claimed that he
“embodies violence a lot in a healthy way.â€

Ronald Humphrey explains why he says he ’embodies violence’
after earning a UFC contract

When asked about the criticism of Ian Garry’s
performance in the recent welterweight title fight and UFC CEO
Dana
White's comments about the Irishman's lack of killer instinct,
Humphrey offered a very different perspective, explaining that
violence is a central part of how he approaches life.

“Yeah, I embody violence. I love it,†Humphrey said. “Literally,
I’ll walk into like a Whole Foods sometimes, and I just see all the
people that can’t fight. I’m like, man, I could really f*ck all
y’all up, and there’s nothing y’all could do about it, and I could
take this store over. And maybe I have like a couple of minutes
until the police get there, but like even then, like you’re done.
Like you’re cooked. Like what are you going to do to me? So yeah, I
definitely embody violence a lot in a healthy way.â€

Humphrey (5-0) showcased his well-rounded skillset against Miranda
on
Week 3 of DWCS 2026, scoring a big takedown in the opening
seconds, picking apart his counterpart with precise strikes and
finishing with a rear-naked choke.

Ronald
Humphrey always has violence on his mind… in a healthy way 😅
pic.twitter.com/MvlHQHRVgO

— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
August 26, 2026