Victor Henry suffered a brutal low blow during his bantamweight clash with Javid Basharat earlier today (Sat., Oct. 21, 2023) at UFC 294 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and needed to be sent to the hospital after throwing up backstage. Making matters worse for Henry is the fact that the cageside doctor didn’t even believe he suffered an illegal blow in the first place.
Henry had a tough time getting inside on the longer Basharat and it showed early on in the first round. Basharat was able to control the distance and jump out to an early lead on the scorecards. Henry seemed game to enter deep waters in the second round, though, before Basharat landed an accidental low blow. It was pretty gnarly and it sent Henry to the canvas almost immediately.
Henry was given some time to recover, but the cageside doctor was heard saying he didn’t believe anything actually landed. The replay showed that Henry was in fact hit with an illegal low blow and after he couldn’t continue the fight was waved off. The bantamweight clash was eventually ruled a No Content.
Unfortunately, the bad news didn’t stop there for Henry. After the fight, UFC play-by-play announcer, Jon Anik, revealed during the “Prelims” broadcast that Henry was on his way to the hospital after throwing up backstage. He was eventually booked for a testicular ultrasound. Not a great way to spend a weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Check out two different angles of the low blow below:
Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry ends in a no contest at #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/hvF6JezGPo
— AlAudhli ??????? (@AAudhli) October 21, 2023
Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry ends in a No Contest due to an unintentional low blow#UFC294pic.twitter.com/kccrnrMhyt
— Combat Sports Today (@CSTodayNews) October 21, 2023
Javid Basharat and Victor Henry has finished as a no contest due to a low blow by Javid Basharat which resulted in Victor Henry not being able to keep fighting in the 2nd round #MMA #MMATwitter #UFC #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/xchZvshYga
— ScotttishProblem (@ScotttishProb) October 21, 2023
Here is the cageside physician trying to convince Henry that he didn’t suffer a low blow that kept him down for minutes:
yea Doc, convince him that he didn’t get kicked right there… insane #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/uiGxxgRz5y
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 21, 2023
For complete UFC 294 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.