UFC featherweight Tatsuya Kawajiri headed for surgery, pulled from active competition 'indefinitely'

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-8-2) has suffered a detached retina and has been pulled from active competition "indefinitely," according to a report from MMA Fighting. "Crusher" will undergo surgery on July 26, 2014, in Japan.

It gets worse.

Kawajiri was already felled by the same injury -- in the same eye -- on two previous occasions, according to the report. Not only does that rule him out of the upcoming UFC Fight Night 52, scheduled for Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Sept. 20, 2014, it could jeopardize his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

The former PRIDE star is 36 years old.

It's still too early to tell how long this latest setback will keep Kawajiri sidelined, but he will undoubtedly be gunning for another fight inside the Octagon, in an effort to erase the memory of his Fight Pass loss to Clay Guida last April in Abu Dhabi.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.