Álvarez painted the Octagon red Saturday night.
Joel Álvarez was sliced open in his second-round technical knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Vegas 49 this past Saturday and shared photos of the gruesome cuts he suffered.
A brief exchange was interrupted after Álvarez threw a body kick that was caught by Tsarukyan, who took the Spaniard down and scrambled his way into top position. For about four minutes, the Armenian remained in control, throwing down punches and elbows as Álvarez threatened with submission attempts from the bottom. Toward the end of the first round, Tsarukyan connected with an elbow that cut Álvarez on the bridge of his nose. Blood poured out immediately, painting the fighters and canvas red. Another elbow was delivered and a second cut was open as time ran out.
The cutman entered the Octagon and tried to work on the cuts, but Álvarez continued to bleed profusely. Tsarukyan used this to his advantage and shot in for a takedown as soon as the second round started, putting Álvarez on his back. The blood covered his eyes yet again, which hindered his vision. It was not long before Tsarukyan pinned Álvarez down and unloaded with shots until the referee stepped in.
On Sunday, Álvarez posted photos on Instagram of what he looked like after the fight.
Warning: Photo below is graphic. Please proceed with caution.
Dominance MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz also revealed Álvarez broke two ribs after being taken down by Tsarukyan. Abdelaziz described the injury as “one of the nastiest” he has ever seen.
Before his loss to Tsarukyan, Álvarez was on a four-fight win streak that included finishes over Danilo Belluardo, Joseph Duffy, Alexander Yakovlev and Thiago Moisés.