Among all of the happenings at UFC 71 last night including the major upsets of Keith Jardine and Chuck Liddell as well as all of the stoppages it was no wonder that James Irvin undercard loss caught lost in the action.

Irvin lost to Thiago Silva on the events undercard after he was thrown by Silva to the mat catching his leg and severely injuring his knee on the fall. The injury was reportedly very gruesome (just imagine a knee “exploding”) but the news may not be all bad.

Reports following the event suggest that Irvin suffered “only” a partial ACL tear and surgery will likely not be needed to fix this injury. This is good news for Irvin who was fighting in just his second UFC fight since making a comeback after spending more than 2 years out of the organization. In Irvin’s first UFC fight after returning to the octagon he topped Hector Ramirez at UFC 65 in November of last year with a TKO in the second round.

There is no estimated timetable for his recovery although additional time will likely be needed to allow the knee injury to heal.

Tags: James Irvin, Thiago Silva