Junior dos Santos undergoes shoulder surgery, out three months

Junior dos Santos got all his momentum back in Zagreb, but it looks like he picked up an injury as well. The former UFC heavyweight champion put on a show in a unanimous decision win over Ben Rothwell earlier this month, and currently sits as the fourth-ranked challenger in the big man's division. It looks like JDS be waiting for a while before he fights though, as he pointed out on his Instagram - he'll be out 12 weeks after shoulder surgery:

Apesar de ser Brasileiro nunca joguei futebol muito bem, eu nunca fui o melhor nadando, correndo, ou em qualquer outro esporte assim. Mas na luta. Na luta eu me encontrei e eu posso dizer que sou bom nisso, luto bem. Mas ser lutador exige e desgasta muito e às vezes mesmo na vitória podemos nos machucar. Eu poderia dizer que agora seria um momento bem difícil, mas é exatamente ao contrário, eu me sinto abençoado. Eu machuquei um pouco o meu ombro mas conquistei uma grande vitória, estou tendo excelentes cuidados e muito, muito em breve estarei 100% novamente. Eu fiz uma rápida cirurgia esta manhã no meu ombro e como disse meu amigo e médico Dr Howard Gelb @drgelb que cuidou de mim, tudo correu perfeitamente bem, tão bem que eu até já estou em casa relaxando. Só Queria que vocês soubessem por mim | | Despite being Brazilian I've never played soccer very well, I also wasn't good enough on swimming or running or any other sports like those. But luckily I found myself in the fight world and I can say, I'm good it. But fighting demands a lot and sometimes even in victory we can get hurt. I could say that now would be a very difficult time for me, but I actually feel blessed. I hurt my shoulder a bit but I won a great fight, and I'm having a excellent care so that very, very soon I will be 100% again. I had a small shoulder surgery this morning and as my good friend Doctor Howard Gelb @drgelb who took great care of me said, everything went perfectly and guess what! I'm already at home relaxing. I just would like to let you guys know through me

A photo posted by Junior Cigano Dos Santos (@junior_cigano) on Apr 26, 2016 at 6:45pm PDT

"Despite being Brazilian I've never played soccer very well, I also wasn't good enough on swimming or running or any other sports like those. But luckily I found myself in the fight world and I can say, I'm good (at) it.

But fighting demands a lot and sometimes even in victory we can get hurt. I could say that now would be a very difficult time for me, but I actually feel blessed. I hurt my shoulder a bit but I won a great fight, and I'm having a excellent care so that very, very soon I will be 100% again.

I had a small shoulder surgery this morning and as my good friend Doctor Howard Gelb @drgelb who took great care of me said, everything went perfectly and guess what! I'm already at home relaxing.

I just would like to let you guys know through me."

For the 32-year-old Dos Santos (18-4, 12-3 UFC), now is as good a time as any to be on the sidelines. With a UFC heavyweight title fight coming up between two men he holds victories over, Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic, he could be in a position to challenge the winner down the road. Let's hope his recovery goes well.