UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith, who had undergone surgery to fix a broken hand late last year, told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he was ready to amputate his left index finger in order to keep fighting. Smith had two surgeries following his fight against Alexander Gustafsson on June 1, 2019, that resulted in scar tissue build up, preventing him from being able to close his hand.
"We were going to amputate my pointer finger, because all the scar tissue was grabbing onto the ligament and not allowing it to close and slide back and forth. So the idea was if we amputated the finger and screwed those ligaments to that bone after it healed, then I could use the other three fingers and my thumb to grapple. And there would still technically be a knuckle there so I can still punch."
Smith, his wife, and two UFC employees continued to search for other alternatives which led him to a physical therapist who applied electricity to crush the scar tissue and force his hand to close.
"Once we tore through all the scar tissue that first time, then we just did that every single day until I was able to get the movement back in it, and now it's good. I've probably been able to close it for probably two months. It's as good as it's going to get. My strength and ability to use it is 100 percent, but my hands are messes anyway. I have lots of scar tissue, lots of arthritis. It's sore in the morning and the cold weather in Nebraska doesn't help at all. Once it gets moving, it loosens up and feels all right."
Smith is currently the No. 3-ranked light heavyweight. He lost to Jon Jones by unanimous decision in a championship fight back in March 2019, but rebounded with a win over Alexander Gustafsson in June of last year. The injury to his hand had kept him out for the remainder of the year, but Smith is now ready to return to the Octagon. His next fight is against Glover Teixeira on April 25 in front of his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.