Nicco Montano’s reign as the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight champion has hit a snag, though it’s not completely unexpected.

Montano (4-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) last week told MMAjunkie after her title victory vs. Roxanne Modafferi at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale that she fought through a broken bone in her foot. As it turns out, Montano will go through with surgery, which will keep her out of action indefinitely.

“I need to have surgery,” Montano told MMAWeekly.com. “I definitely need to get that fixed before anything else – the sooner the better.”

Montano, ranked No. 14 of 16 competitors on “The Ultimate Fighter 26,” went on a remarkable run to earn the 125-pound title belt. She defeated Lauren Murphy, Montana Stewart and former Invicta FC champion Barb Honchak before earning the gutsy decision over Modafferi in the final.

Montano said she dealt with the injury throughout training camp, which hindered her strength and conditioning. She was forced to give up running, because she couldn’t put much weight on her foot for several weeks.

“When it happened, I remember saying to my coach something is wrong with my foot,” Montano said. “It was the ball of my foot, so pivoting or anything was hard for me. Holding hooks in grappling, there was nothing I could do for a while so I didn’t know if I was going to be able to fight.

“For about two or three weeks I was bed ridden, because I couldn’t walk and I had to instead of my strength and conditioning, I had to do (physical therapy), which was basically me holding my hands up against the wall, planting both of my feet on the ground and lifting my heel off the ground centimeter by centimeter on my left foot. That’s how bad it was.”

Montano wasn’t even sure during fight week that she’d be able to make it to the cage. It took a medical boost for it to happen.

“The only reason why I was able to do anything that night was because of the cortisone shot,” Montano said. “My range of mobility the night before was crap. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to fight. I was watching my fight, and that’s why my level changes were so high, because I still can’t roll over my left toes.”

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.