Fight fans got an ugly sight on Sunday afternoon at UFC Fight Night 87 in the lightweight bout between Josh Emmett and Jon Tuck.
In the latter half of their three-round fight, Emmett was clearly favoring his left hand. That isn't unusual, as four-ounce MMA gloves offer very little protection, which often leads to broken hands that can limit a fighter's output. When the fighters were wrangled in for the official decision, however, it became clear that this wasn't a normal injury.
UFC ring announcer Jon Anik threw Emmett and the audience a curveball by flat-out asking if it's true that he had suffered a compound fracture during the fight. Emmett quickly put his hand in front of the camera and showed that, yes, there was in fact a bone sticking straight out of him. Here's a screen grab, via MMAFighting.com's Shaun Al-Shatti (warning: image maybe graphic to some):
Josh Emmett wins debut at UFC Fight Night 87 with nasty compound fracture on finger https://t.co/9NDfpfbnJ7 pic.twitter.com/P4JlXk47wq
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) May 8, 2016
Yeesh.
Want to see it up close and personal? UFC President Dana White posted a clip on Instagram of his hand being tended to in the back (warning: NSFW language and content):
While it wasn't initially obvious to fans what caused this, Emmett suggested a kick in the third round was the culprit (h/t Al-Shatti).
The silver lining to this gruesome wound is that Emmett managed to gut the fight out to the end and earn the win via split decision. He will likely be out of commission for a while, but hopefully his next fight is an easier one...and easier on the eyes, too.
