Kamaru Usman has undergone hand surgery which will keep him out of action until the summer.
The 'Nigerian Nightmare' defeated Colby Covington in a thrilling rematch last year to retain his welterweight title and undefeated record with the promotion.
He has been suffering with a hand ligament injury in the aftermath of the defeat which has now required surgery to fix the damage.
The promotion's kingpin Dana White has posted before and after images of the surgery on Instagram with the caption: "Pound-for-pound best fighter in the world had hand ligament surgery today. This is the before and after. See you soon CHAMP."
Usman has been out of action since his clash with Covington and is now eyeing a return to action in July this year after his recovery from the surgery is complete.
His manager Ali Abdelaziz confirmed to ESPN that the promotion's leading star will aim to fight on the International Fight Week with UFC 276 scheduled for July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena.
His next title defence is likely to come against British star Leon Edwards who has made his way up the welterweight rankings and who defeated Nate Diaz in his last bout.
The British star initially planned to fight Jorge Masvidal but 'Gamebred' will now take a fight to set up a trilogy shot at Usman against Colby Covington.
Usman has continued to build up his sensational resume in the sport and is currently on a 15-fight winning streak which takes him one fight away from the record set by Brazilian legend Anderson Silva.
He is fast becoming one of the most dominant welterweight's in the sport's history.
The 34-year-old had also planned to move up in weight and face Jan Blachowicz in January as he looks for the biggest fights in the sport., but this now seems an option for the future.
Where do you rank Kamaru Usman in your all-time fighter's list for the UFC? Let us know in the comments section below
His attention is continuing to grow and he has even attracted interest from Conor McGregor who could fight in the welterweight division upon his return from injury.
Usman has also made previous attempts to stage a crossover bout of his own against boxing's pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez.
However the Mexican star quickly brushed off any advances from Usman branding it as a search for a "payday".
White also dismissed the potential boxing fight and instead wanted to focus on Usman setting a huge legacy in the promotion.
He has placed Usman alongside the likes of Silva and Georges St Pierre by naming the star in his top-five fighters of all-time.
"I picked Jon Jones, Kamaru Usman, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva," White told Yahoo Sports when asked about his 'best ever' fighters.
"Anderson just did more and he was there longer. The dominance of Khabib is unbelievable and like you say it is a different day and era with different levels and skills."
