There has been no shortage of gruesome cuts in the UFC over the past year.
While Colby Covington's fight-ending tear at UFC Tampa certainly wasn't the worst of 2024, that award still goes to Irene Aldana's UFC 306 horror slash, which did turn the octagon a truly gruesome shade of crimson.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Michael Bisping had to bypass 'huge pools of thick blood' at UFC Tampa
UFC Tampa's main event, the final fight of 2024, ended rather unceremoniously on Saturday night after Colby Covington suffered a nasty cut during his welterweight showdown with Joaquin Buckley.
Referee Dan Miragliotta waved off the match after the ringside doctor advised that 'Chaos' was at risk of losing his eyelid completely if he continued to suffer damage.
While the videos and images from UFC Tampa paint a bloody picture, UFC legend Michael Bisping has now shared how horrific the fallout from the cut was.
“In the first round, a nasty gash opened just above the [right] eyelid. They cleaned it between rounds and it doesn't look too bad, but within seconds of each round starting there was blood pouring down the face,” Bisping said via his official YouTube channel.
'And when he was ready [the end of] round three his face was a mess… Even when I got into the octagon to interview Joaquin Buckley, there were huge pools of thick blood all over the octagon.
“I had to get around them a bit – I didn't want to slip on my ass and look like an absolute d****… Yeah, there was a lot of blood and Dan Miragliotta said to him at the start of round three: 'Listen, you gotta protect that eye, for it is almost stopped.'
While Bisping noted that the injury was in no way “the worst cut we've ever seen” in the UFC octagon, the constant blood vomiting was more than enough reason to end the bout.
“Of course Colby is going to try to discredit Joaquin Buckley's win; It wasn't the worst cut we've ever seen, but there was a lot of blood, so I didn't have a problem with the break.”
Colby Covington and Chael Sonnen react to the UFC Tampa Main Event stoppage
While Colby Covington disputed the stoppage, claiming the fight “wouldn't have been stopped in Las Vegas,” head coach Chael Sonnen admitted he was close to throwing in the towel.
“It got busted open so badly that the doctor had to look at it three times, twice they stopped the action to look at it, and the third time they said, 'We can't go anymore,'” Sonnen revealed via his own Breakdown of YouTube channels.
“I wanted to stop that fight, I already took the towel. When the doctor came for the third time, I looked at the blood and it didn't stop, it went into the eye… I stood up so I could see what the doctor was doing, and I told Charlie the number two : 'Give me that towel, I'll stop this'.”
Covington believes he and Buckley were tied at 1-1 going into the third round, before vowing to come back better than ever the next time he returns to action.
“I wasn't at my best tonight, I came off the bench, but it was for the company, I did this for the company that I love so much, that changed my life… I know there is still a lot of struggle inside me and the best is yet to come.
“I was just warming up in that fight, I think it was tied 1-1 and I started to like him. I see him breathing from his mouth. I started hitting him with more shots, so it's a shame they stopped.”
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