Rony Jason suffered his first loss in the UFC on Saturday night, but he caused more damage to himself than Jeremy Stephens did.
Stephens stopped Jason with a high kick to the head just 40 seconds into the fight at UFC Fight Night 32 in Goiania, Brazil, and the referee quickly stopped the bout when he realized the Brazilian was out. As soon as he left the cage, a “devastated” Jason started punishing himself for the loss.
When Jason entered his locker room, he punched himself in the face twice and smashed a door with his elbow, leading to injuries that needed 22 stitches total.
“I hurt my elbow, but I’m okay,” Jason told MMAFighting.com on Monday. “I was crying, angry with my loss, and I landed my elbow on the door. It’s hurt, but didn’t break any bones. I was just devastated at that moment.
“I’ve trained for a long time for this fight. I was undefeated for four years. Unfortunately, this is an individual sport and I have to deal with it.”
Jason was taken to the hospital and his elbow and his eye will sideline him from the gym for a few weeks.
“I needed 15 stitches in my elbow and seven over my eye,” he said. “I punched my head twice after the fight, I was so angry. But that’s nothing compared to my loss. I’m devastated.”
Jason was 3-0 in the UFC, with victories over Mike Wilkinson, Sam Sicilia and Godofredo Pepey, and Stephens moved to 2-0 as a featherweight with th2 fast knockout win in Goiania, Brazil.
“I’m hungry to come back to the gym already,” Jason said. “I was undefeated for a long time since I joined Team Nogueira, but now I’m back to zero.”