Jamie Varner breaks two bones in foot, tears ligaments in UFC 173 loss

UFC lightweight Jamie Varner broke two bones in his foot and tore ligaments during a TKO loss to James Krause on the pay-per-view main card of Saturday’s UFC 173.

Varner’s longtime rep, Oren Hodak, of KO Reps, confirmed the injury on Saturday via Twitter but did not specify which bones the fighter broke.

A follow-up call was not immediately returned, but a source close to Varner told MMAjunkie the fighter has torn ligaments in his foot in addition to the two fractures and that the fighter will see a specialist next week to have the injury evaluated. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicy about the injury.

Despite collapsing on his left leg at several points in the first round, Varner (21-10-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC) continued to fight on his injured ankle and made it to the end of the five-minute round. When checked on by a cageside doctor, he reported his ankle was broken. Unfortunately, the doctor he reported the injury to also stepped on the affected foot.

Varner now has suffered three straight losses in the UFC since a short-notice fight with Edson Barboza brought one of the most thrilling upsets of his career. However, his resiliency in the face of what likely was excruciating pain is likely to win him another chance in the octagon.

Krause (21-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) praised his opponent’s toughness as he hopped out of the cage and to the backstage area, where he was immediately taken to an area hospital.

Krause believed the injury occurred when he checked a kick early in the round, which harkened back to ex-middleweight champ Anderson Silva’s broken leg suffered when champ Chris Weidman executed the same maneuver.

Varner, a former champ in the now-defunct WEC, trains in Glendale, Ariz., and enlisted a new crew of coaches for the fight.

For complete coverage of UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.