You have to be tough to fight in the UFC, but there are some limits that even these warriors are not expected to push beyond.
Nevertheless, no matter how dire the circumstances, some UFC stars appear to have an ingrained ‘never say die’ attitude that enables to push on through the pain barrier when even some of their most battle-hardened contemporaries would have called it quits.
In this article we’ll pay tribute to this rare breed as we recall 10 instances in which fighters suffered gruesome, agonizing injuries in the Octagon, yet still battled on regardless.
Rich Franklin
When former middleweight champion Rich Franklin stepped in to replace Tito Ortiz against hall of famer Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in 2010 he knew that he was facing a wounded lion, with ‘The Iceman’ having been given an ultimatum by Dana White that if he didn’t win he would have to hang up his gloves.
With his career on the line, Liddell came out strong and started throwing powerful kicks instead of just relying on loading up with his often battle-tested right hand.
That proved to be bad news for Franklin, as just a minute into the fight had to block a thundering head kick attempt, which caused a clean break to the ulna bone in his left forearm.
This was a nightmare scenario for Franklin, but he did well to disguise his discomfort and kept fighting, even daring to continue to punch with his broken left arm at times while also posting on the damaged limb to get back to his feet after being taken down.
In the final minute of the round, Liddell thought he had Franklin in trouble and began upping the intensity, driving forward looking for a highlight-reel finish.
However, just then the wounded ‘Ace’ stood his ground, bit down on his mouthpiece and unleashed a short right hand that connected flush and knocked Liddell out cold for a classic against-all-odds victory.
The post 10 UFC Fighters Who Fought Through Gruesome Injuries appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.