Following a TKO loss to Johnny Eduardo this past Saturday in Cincinnati, former WEC bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland has found himself at a career crossroads.

Wineland told MMAjunkie he suffered a broken jaw in the fight, and on Wednesday he underwent surgery in Chicago. With his jaw currently wired shut, Wineland said a doctor recommended he reassess his fighting career.

For someone like Wineland, who holds down a full-time job as a firefighter in Northwest Indiana along with being one of the UFC’s elite-level bantamweights – and someone who as recently as this past September fought for the title – the prospect of calling it a career is one that’s tough to stomach.

“I’m just not so sure it’s worth the risk,” Wineland told MMAjunkie. “I’ve got a lot I need to wrestle with right now.”

Wineland said he’ll be on the sidelines from all activity – fighting and training, obviously, as well as working at the firehouse – for six weeks. But the last time he had a broken jaw, he said the recovery was more like a 10-month time table.

“I never wanted to go through this again, and now I surely don’t ever want to go through it again,” Wineland said. “It was the most miserable time of my life.”

Wineland (21-10-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) fought Eduardo (27-9 MMA, 2-1 UFC) to open the FOX Sports 2-televised preliminary portion of UFC Fight Night 40, which took place at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. Eduardo was returning to the UFC after an injury layoff of two years, and Wineland was a heavy favorite in the fight.

But in the first round, Eduardo caught Wineland with a right hand that staggered the former champion. When Wineland’s legs started to give out and he stumbled backward, Eduardo hit him again on the button, sending him to the canvas. The Brazilian quickly pounced and didn’t need many follow-ups to get the stoppage with 23 seconds left in the first frame.

In September, following back-to-back wins over Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett, Wineland fought Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight title. He put together a solid first round against the champ, but in the second, he was caught with a spinning back kick and Barao got a TKO stoppage when he started to rain down punches on the ground.

Wineland maintained after the fight the stoppage was perhaps too quick, and that he wasn’t out. Still, it was the first TKO blemish on his record, save for one that came thanks to an injury nearly nine years prior.

He rebounded in Chicago, near his Northwest Indiana home, in January with a TKO win over Yves Jabouin to get back on track. But the fight against Eduardo was painful now in figurative and literal ways.

Wineland was issued an indefinite medical suspension by the Ohio Athletic Commission following the loss, pending a doctor’s clearance of his jaw. With it broken, he’d need a doctor to sign off on it down the road, just to get back to fighting.

But that’s something Wineland says he’ll have at least six weeks to mull over.

“I’ve got some serious thinking to do,” he said. “I’m just not so sure the juice is worth the squeeze. I just need to take a step back and look at the big picture.”

Wineland won the WEC’s bantamweight title against Antonio Banuelos a little more than eight years ago. He lost it in his first defense to Chase Beebe at WEC 26. After a loss at WEC 40, though, he went on a four-fight winning streak in the promotion, including back-to-back “Knockout of the Night” bonuses.

His start in the UFC after the merger of the two promotions was against the best in the business. He lost a decision to Urijah Faber in a title eliminator at UFC 128 – though he won the first round against the former featherweight champ. And after that, he lost to Faber teammate Joseph Benavidez before he rebounded with the wins over Jorgensen and Pickett. The Jorgensen knockout was a “Fight of the Night” winner.

Wineland won’t turn 30 until next month and has 32 fights on his resume, with 16 stoppages in his 21 wins.

Now he waits to see if his loss to Eduardo will be his final appearance in the sport.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 40, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.