The Rafael Fiziev vs. Mateusz Gamrot main event at UFC Vegas 79 ended just as it started to heat up when Fiziev threw a kick near the middle of the second round and suddenly dropped to the canvas holding his leg. The likely prognosis: a blown ACL, one of the worst injuries an MMA fighter can go through.
Gamrot took some heat on social media for celebrating a win that came under dubious circumstances, but it’s worth taking a moment to remind fans: “Gamer” was hammering on Fiziev’s left leg throughout their fight, and it very well could have been one of these kicks that led to the seemingly spontaneous explosion of his opponent’s knee ligaments.
Hardcore MMA and freakshow fight aficionado Matysek took to X (formerly Twitter) to break down two moments where Fiziev took some serious strain on his soon-to-be injured limb. In round one Gamrot hits Fiziev flush with a brutal leg kick, buckling his leg sideways.
Shortly after that, Gamrot caught a Fiziev kick and lifted it high up, sending “Ataman” flying backwards. Fiziev pulls the leg back and lands awkwardly, stumbling for a moment.
Leg kicks were clearly a key component to Gamrot’s gameplan, and he was out to hurt Fiziev with them. While it’s always terrible when a fight ends via injury, some injuries are more ‘freak’ than others. This wasn’t a situation like Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes where Aspinall’s knee buckled seconds into the fight. “Gamer” clearly hammered Fiziev’s left leg repeatedly leading up to the injury.
Does Gamrot deserve more credit than he’s currently getting for the end of his fight against Fiziev? Let us know in the comment section below, Maniacs!
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
