MMA Twitter reacts in shock as Aleksandar Rakic blows out his knee and loses to Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night

Jan Blachowicz defeats Aleksandar Rakic, who went down due to injury [Photo via @ufc on Instagram]

Due to a freak injury, the main event clash between UFC light heavyweight contenders Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic saw an untimely ending.

Blachowicz is back in the win column after earning a much-needed technical knockout (TKO) victory against the rising star. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be the former champion's moment of redemption was marred by the anti-climactic conclusion of the fight.

In round three, Rakic caught a low kick from Blachowicz, who had been chopping away at his opponent's legs in the first two frames. Stepping back, the Austrian planted his right leg and crumbled to the ground.

Ai é foda, tomara q façam uma revanche imediata pq terminar assim é triste. Tomara que não seja nada grave 👌
#UFCVegas54 #UFCnoCombate https://t.co/xLfC9qy3wF

Referee Mark Smith immediately noticed something was wrong and wasted no time calling for the stoppage. Rakic continued to grimace in pain as it became apparent that he had sustained a severe knee injury.

Footage from the replay showed some sort of popping movement on Rakic's calf before he fell down. Needless to say, the MMA community was in shock. Here's how UFC fighters reacted to the recently-concluded event.

MMA Twitter reacts to shocking conclusion of UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic

It was apparent that a lot of fighters were hyped to see Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic throw down. UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, middleweight contender Derek Brunson, and up-and-coming 205-pounder Jimmy Crute hopped on social media to express their excitement.

Let’s go @JanBlachowicz Win tonight…and I’ll win Jun 11…then we run it back

Main event time ! New school or old school ? I see Rakic coming out on fire, Jan is gonna have to weather a storm ! #ufcvegas54

Win lose or draw @JanBlachowicz is a very inspiring dude. Let’s go polish power #UFCVegas54

After the first round, fighters have varying assessments of the action. Johnny Walker had Rakic ahead on his personal scorecard, while Jimi Manuwa thought Blachowicz secured the opening round.

I give the first round to rakic #UFCVegas54

Great first round !!! Great fight !! Think Jan took that. Beautiful low kicks #UFCVegas54

However, the excitement quickly turned into astonishment when Rakic went down with the injury. Walker wished Rakic a speedy recovery, while Manuwa pointed out that it was a "sh*t ending to a great fight."

Fuck. Never nice seeing a fighter get badly hurt like that. Congrats to Jan and praying for a quick recovery for Rakic. #UFCVegas54 #ufc

Shit ending to a great fight. #UFCVegas54

Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier speculated that Rakic could have suffered a tear in his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Meanwhile, Brunson only had one word to describe what he had just witnessed.

ACL I bet. Unfortunate for Rakic. Good fight bu both guys to that point.

Ouch ! #UFCVegas54

Finally, Belal Muhammad and Casey O'Neill are in agreement that what happened to Rakic was very unfortunate. Muhammad said he "hated to see a fight end like that." Meanwhile, O'Neill believes a knee injury is the "worst thing honestly."

Ughhhh hate to see a fight end like that there’s so many ways to get hurt in a fight

Seeing someone else blow their knee out 🤢 worst thing honestly #UFCVegas54