What are the worst UFC injuries ever?
Read on to find out
Injuries in sport are part of the norms, and MMA, which is a combat sport, is no different.
MMA’s world is a brutal world ruled by terrific combat athletes capable of rendering one spine utterly useless with few punches and snaps.
Bloody nose, swollen faces, twisted ankles are too often a common sight in the ring.
Despite the frequent sight of injuries affiliated in the sports, there are rare fights that feature gruesome, painful, terrific injuries.
This article delves into the ten most horrific and disgusting injuries in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The Worst UFC Injuries Ever
10. Tim Sylvia’s Arm Break vs. Frank Mir
Mir is one of the greatest names and heavyweights in the sports of MMA.
He is reputable for his crafty submission fighting style.
Mir has caused some severe damages to opponents who refused to tap to his crafty submission at his prime, causing some injury.
One of such opponents is Tim Sylvia.
They were battling for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 48 in 2004.
Just 50 seconds into the fight, Mir had Sylvia in an armbar.
When the latter refused to tap, he mercilessly snapped his arm in the most crucifying and gruesome manner ever, prompting immediate intervention from the referee who stopped the fight.
It took Sylvia months to fully recovered from the horrors of the injury, and despite a recovery, he still has problems with the arm to date.
9. Rory MacDonald Injury vs. Robbie Lawler
This was one fight that fans wouldn’t easily forget.
It was at UFC 189, former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler was up against Rory McDonald.
However, a heated altercation between the two fighters escalated into a brutal slugfest.
In a matter of minutes, fleshes were bruised, eyes became swollen, and faces bloodstained.
Lawler came out top of the fights with MacDonald been knocked down and sustaining multiple injuries.
Intervention from veteran fighter Big John McCarthy saved MacDonald from further punches.
His face had already been disfigured from Lawler’s forceful fist.
The severity of MacDonald’s injury saw part of his nose detached from his skull.
8. Shogun Rua’s Elbow Injury vs. Mark Coleman I
Back in 2006, Pride FC in Japan was the center of attention in the MMA.
Shogun Rua vs. Mark Coleman I, two rival fighters, were up against each other.
A minute into the fight, Coleman implemented a move that saw Rua falling and breaking his arm in the most fascinating and murderous manner one could picture.
It didn’t stop there; despite Rua been down, Coleman followed the brutal fall with tons of strikes and bloody punches.
Patience and temper broke loose in the side rings as the ring was instantly filled with Rua’s provoked fighters seeking a pound of flesh of Coleman.
The referee had to go beyond regular refereeing to stopped the fight and prevent further altercation and violence.
Rua suffered a dislocated elbow afterward. It was a nasty looking sight.
7. Mike Pierce Ankle & Knee Sprain vs. Rousimar Palhares
The fights between these two fighters, who were both skilled submission artists, turned out messy.
Prior to the fight, Palhares had a long history of deliberately holding onto his submission and rather than achieved his victories to opponents who tapped out free of injuries.
The fight had been a kick, punch, and dodge combat until Palhares caught hold of Pierce’s leg in a deadly tight lock.
Although Pierce tapped out immediately, Palhares didn’t let go, which resulted in a devastating snap of Pierce’s leg.
Pierce took months to heal.
After recovery from injury, he fought only a single fight and never returned to the ring.
6. Leslie Smith’s Exploded Cauliflower Ear vs. Jessica Eye
This happened between the female fighters of the MMA in UFC 198.
It was a gnarly scene in the octagon.
Both fighters were balanced and had gone the distance with each other in the round one with no dominating superior.
However, 90 seconds into the second round, the fight took a sudden turn.
Leslie had casually been maintaining a fighting stance, both fists in a continuous rotational movement seeking the right spot to deal Jessica plenty of punches when Jessica sneaked in an unexpected powerful right hook to her ear, which exploded in a burst of blood upon impact.
A big slicing cut emerged, and the bleeding was non-stop.
Referee Herb Dean was forced to call the fight off in favor of Jessica Eye.
It was one gruesome sight in the octagon.
5. Mark Hominick’s Hematoma vs. Jose Aldo
On May 1, 2011, Jose Aldo made his debut title defense against Mark Hominick at UFC 129.
It was Hominick’s first major title shot.
The fights went down for five rounds, and Jose Aldo successfully defended his title-winning by unanimous decision.
However, the major highlight of the fight was several injuries and brutal hematoma Hominick suffered.
He was brave enough to go the distance of five rounds, considering the inflicted injuries’ degree.
He was rushed to the emergency ward after the fights to tend to the wounds.
4. Matt Mitrione’s Swollen Eye vs. Travis Browne
The fight between Travis Browne and Matt Mitrione at UFC Night 81 saw one of the most gruesome and worst UFC injuries in MMA history.
The fight started on the balance scale of play.
Browne, a top 10 heavyweight at the time, showed his worth.
Mitrione contained Browne perfectly and held his ground until the third round when Browned escaped a fury punch across Mitrione’s right eye, resulting in instantaneous swollen.
Browne repeated the brutal punch at the very same spot Mitrione right eye, resulting in temporary blindness of the eye.
It was an ugly and a horrific sight.
Added to that was a dislocated shoulder injury also that saw Miltrione’s bones almost popping out through his skin.
Browne emerged as the final winner of the fight.
3. Minotauro Nogueira’s Broken Arm vs. Frank Mir
Frank Mir comes up in this list yet again.
This was another broken arm incident still but with a different opponent, Minotauro Nogueira.
Mir had caught Minotauro in a tight kimura; obviously, Minotauro was at his stretch limit.
He defiantly refused to tap out, thus prompting an aggressive Mir into twisting and snapping his arm with a menacing force that sent terror looks waving through watching fans.
The referee had to stop the fight with Mir emerging winner.
2. Evangelista Santos’ Fractured Skull vs. Michael Page
London’s famous O2 Arena hosted two devils in the MMA, which saw one half of the devil going down in what would prove to be the last professional fight of his career.
The fierce fight resulted in a terrific knockout after page served Santos, an electrifying knee hits to his forehead.
Page collapsed instantly and was rushed to the hospital. The intensity of the strike had shattered his skull.
Later revealed x-ray results of Santos showed his forehead was cracked and would need an operation, which holds the risk of brain damage.
However, Santos survived through but never fought another fight and called the curtain close on a 50-fight career.
1. Anderson Silva’s Broken Shin Bone vs. Chris Weidman
This is the most famous yet one of the worst UFC injuries to be recorded in the history of MMA.
It happened in December 2013 at UFC 168.
Silva then was one of the heavy names among pound for pound fighters in the world.
Five months earlier to the historic fight, his status as one of the best had suffered a credibility threat after Weidman defeated him to usurp the Middleweight crown.
The second fight was an opportunity for revenge and a chance to redeem his heavy-hitting image as one of the ferocious pounds for pound fighter.
In the early stages of the fight, an aggressive Anderson was a pain in Weidman’s ass with his turbulent leg kicks.
However, this move backfired in the second round.
Anderson had gone for a low left powerful kick, but Weidman countered it with a perfect block, and the results became one of the most-watched replayed MMA fights.
His shin bone was broken.
It bent in an odd sort of angle that sent fans screaming in horror and MMA fight commentators wondering their next comment words.
Anderson collapsed to the floor, and the fight was called off immediately, with Weidman awarded the winner.
Anderson has fully recovered from the defeat, but not from the injury.
Watching a fights in the UFC is a thrilling experience.
However that experience can be marred with gruesome sights of injuries. Nonetheless, its part of the fun.
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