Michael McDonald to have surgery on broken left hand

It’s back to the operating room for Michael McDonald.

The 27-year-old Bellator bantamweight broke his left hand in his most recent fight, a stunning 58-second knockout victory over former champion Eduardo Dantas. His initial assessment of the injury was optimistic and he expected to avoid getting surgery, but he shared a new update on Monday saying that repairing the injury will require a more extensive procedure.

In the statement, McDonald explains that a bone in his hand was “crushed” causing his knuckle and pointer finger length to become misaligned and deformed. The surgery will involve fusing his hand bones together and adding a steel plate.

McDonald (19-4) is no stranger to surgery and recovery, having been sidelined from December 2013 to January 2016 due to injuries related to his right hand and wrist. Prior to that layoff, he’d established himself as a top bantamweight in the UFC, once challenging Renan Barao for an interim belt. He is 2-0 since debuting for Bellator last December.

McDonald’s upcoming surgery is scheduled for Aug. 30. The timetable for his return is unclear.

Read the full statement below:

My friends, I have news about my hand. Unfortunately the first attempt to fix my hand wasn’t as successful as we had hoped. We are going to move on with surgery after all. Not only did I shatter my bone in my hand but I also crushed it. I lost one-quarter inch off of my knuckle and pointer finger length which slightly misaligns and deforms my fist, which will be a huge danger for me to continue punching. We are going to try to fuse my hand bones together and also extend it back to the original length, along with adding a surgical steel plate for reinforcement.

Its crazy to say… But this could possibly still be only a portion of my recovery. The last bone fusion I had (on my right hand) was a two-surgery process. One to add a steel plate and fuse the bone along with extracting bone marrow from another part of my body, and yet another surgery a month afterward to remove the steel plate and screws from my hand since they were so close to the wrist.

My surgery is scheduled for Aug. 30 in Las Vegas with the genius Dr. James Vahey. Praise God I have a wonderful wife who will take care of be during these crazy times. I couldn’t imagine if we had newborn children and we had to deal with this craziness.

If you have a calendar and take practice in praying for people in need, please feel free to add it to your calendar on the 30th to pray for my health in surgery, my doctor’s steady hand, my wife’s caretaking, and my body’s acceptance of the surgery.

Thanks guys! I’ll keep you updated as time goes by. Shalom!