The kick heard around the world, where former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva shattered his left shin on current titleholder Chris Weidman‘s knee, left the fight community in a state of shock Saturday night.
While Weidman clearly won the first round, “The Spider” was aggressive off his back and appeared ready to throw some leather while the fight was standing.
Unfortunately, the bout ended in a gruesome twist of fate. Look no further than UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey‘s reaction to the brutal injury.
“Rowdy” looks away in horror as UFC color commentator Joe Rogan goes over the slow-motion replay of the leg break.
Rousey‘s camp all had a similar reaction to the unexpected turn of events in the headlining title matchup at UFC 168 on Saturday.
Rousey competed in the co-main event of the evening, earning both “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” honors for submitting arch nemesis Miesha Tate with her patented armbar in the third round.
The former Olympian improved her undefeated record to 8-0 and is still yet to win a bout via any way besides armbar.
Surprisingly, initial reports indicate that Silva could resume training in three to six months and potentially make a return to the Octagon if he so chooses, per Bloody Elbow.
Silva, who turns 39 years old in April, has now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his career after winning 17 straight bouts and setting the record for consecutive UFC middleweight title defenses (10).
As for Weidman, he will next face off with ex-UFC light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort at a yet-to-be-determined event in 2014.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com