Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson now needs a medical clearance to compete again after reporting a knee injury.

The California State Athletic Commission has indefinitely suspended Johnson (27-3-1 MMA, 15-2-1 UFC), meaning he’ll need a doctor to clear him before the commission takes his name off an ABC database that tracks medical suspensions.

Johnson originally was given a mandatory minimum suspension of seven days. But CSAC executive director Andy Foster today told MMAjunkie Johnson will be indefinitely suspended.

Johnson, 32, said he injured his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) after a decision loss to Henry Cejudo (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) earlier this month at UFC 227, which took place at Staples Center in Los Angeles. He also believed he had broken his foot while throwing leg kicks.

Although a subsequent examination revealed Johnson hadn’t broken his foot, he told “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” that he suffered a “high-grade” tear in his LCL and suspected he’d need six weeks to heal. With rehabilitation, however, he didn’t expect to undergo surgery.

“Typically (a) Grade 3 (tear), you need surgery,” Johnson said. “Grade 2 is six weeks off and rehab. It’s feeling like a Grade 2 because I’ve had a tear in my left LCL before.”

“We’ve updated the database with the new information,” Foster said.

Johnson’s loss was his first in seven years and ended a record-breaking title run as the UFC’s first flyweight champ. In a razor-close fight, two of three judges awarded Cejudo a decision by scores of 48-47 with one dissenting for Johnson by the same tally.

Questions of an immediate rematch met Johnson after his defeat, but he favored rest and relaxation before making any concrete decisions about his future.

Today’s suspension is not a major setback for Johnson’s career, but it will require him to take an additional step before he’s able to get licensed to fight.

For complete coverage of UFC 227, check out the UFC Events section of the site.