Clip: Italo Ferreira’s Head-Exploding Barrel to Air Combo; Kelly Slater: "One of the gnarliest things I've ever seen done on a wave."

Just six weeks ago, Italo Ferreira was down for the count.

During his Elimination Round heat at the Corona Open J-Bay, the Brazilian World Champ went down hard after a backhand floater airdrop. His knee took the brunt.

And although it wasn’t too serious – no torn ligaments – it ended Ferreira’s season early, forcing him to pull out of the following event, the Shiseido Tahiti Pro. So, since he’s been on the mend, Ferreira’s been a bit nostalgic, via social media, of his fighting days.

The latest is a clip from, presumably, Bali, which shows Italo racing down the line, pulling into a lengthy tube, dodging a bodyboarder chandelier, then punting a seriously massive air reverse to top it off.

Captioning the clip, Italo simply and fittingly put the head exploding emoji.

And on his Instagram stories, reposting the clip and roughly translated from Portuguese, Italo wrote:

“I miss my crazy things in the water”

And Kelly Slater, posting the clip to his own IG Story, wrote:

"First off, this is one of the gnarliest things I've ever seen done on a wave. And I'm baffled that Italo Ferreira could do a year on Tour and not make the Top 5."

The clip is clearly a throwback, hinting that Italo isn’t fully healed from the knee injury yet.

After it happened, about the injury, he wrote:

“It hurts just to look at it 🥴

“So had some tests done and found a bruise in the medial collateral ligament - no signs of tearing. (strong leg 😅 )

“I'm returning to Brazil for new exams and to start the physical therapy process.”

In the meantime, according to his social media posts, he’s been putting in the time in the gym, rehabbing that knee, driving big trucks, and becoming a blossoming fashion icon – complete with a Louis Vuitton handbag, mesh blouse, and oversized raver boots.

“Beast in surfing and in fashion,” wrote one commenter.

Should he show up at the first comp of next season wearing that same outfit?

A boy can dream.

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