Former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi came close to beating Diego Sanchez at UFC on Fuel 8 on Saturday, and he did it with only one hand.
Gomi suffered a broken hand during the first round of his fight with Sanchez, which forced him to switch up his striking throughout the 15-minute fight with the former Ultimate Fighter winner.
The Japanese lightweight posted a picture of the x-ray of his broken hand in his official blog on Monday showing off the broken bone just below his right index finger.
Regardless of the injury, Gomi battled throughout all three rounds and when it was over, most believed he had done enough to secure the victory over Sanchez.
Unfortunately, the judges felt otherwise and handed down scores of 29-28 favoring Sanchez, with one judge giving the nod to Gomi 29-28.
UFC President Dana White apparently agreed with the judge who voted for Gomi after he watched the event from home. White tweeted: “how the f—k did Diego win that fight? Crazy s—t.”
The win moved Sanchez back into the positive column after sitting out most of the last year due to injury, and officially welcomed him back to the lightweight division after a three-year absence.
As for Gomi, the loss broke his two-fight win streak after back-to-back wins over Eiji Mitsuoka and former Ultimate Fighter winner Mac Danzig.
Overall since coming to the UFC in 2010, Gomi has gone 3-4, as he looks to find solid ground in his new home. The broken hand will keep Gomi on the sidelines until he can heal up, but he will likely have a job when he comes back to action later this year.
The UFC has made the message clear that they need to slim the roster down by about 100 fighters, but Gomi‘s performances in victory and defeat almost assuredly made his job safe. Add to that the fact that UFC president Dana White personally believed he won his bout against Sanchez, and Gomi is almost a lock for another fight when he returns to action after letting his broken hand heal.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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