UFC Vegas 79 ends with a freak injury, Bryce Mitchell brings a Bible to his fight, Francis Ngannou accuses Tyson Fury of cheating: MMA News Roundup
Find out about the biggest UFC updates and other stories with Sportskeeda's daily MMA News Roundup.
Today's issue will discuss UFC Vegas 79, Francis Ngannou's latest comments about Tyson Fury, and more.
#3 Rafael Fiziev suffers gruesome leg injury at UFC Vegas 79
The main event of UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Gamrot ended in an unfortunate manner.
Despite winning the first round with a 10-9 score across the bench, Fiziev succumbed to a scary leg injury early in the second round. A body kick attempt by Fiziev was promptly checked by Gamrot and the contact caused the Azerbaijani fighter to go down on the mat, visibly writhing in pain.
He was tended to by the ringside physician and other officials.
UFC fighters and fans expressed concern about Fiziev as well as disappointment at the unsatisfactory outcome of the fight. Fiziev's opponent, Mateusz Gamrot, who won the bout via TKO, also stated in the octagon interview that he didn't like how the fight turned out.
Renowned MMA physician Dr. David Abbasi made a virtual diagnosis of the injury from the videos available online. He concluded that Fiziev had torn his ACL and would be out of action for 9-12 months.
#2 Bryce Mitchell's octagon antics leave the internet divided
Bryce Mitchell, who has made a name for himself for his conservative beliefs just as much for his fighting prowess, entered the octagon with a Holy Bible at UFC Vegas 79. He held it up and screamed "Freedom" as Joe Martinez introduced him before his co-main event fight with Dan Ige.
After a unanimous decision win, 'Thug Nasty' declared on the microphone that he believes 'Satan has taken over this Earth, specifically the fires in Hawaii.' He proceeded to ask Dan Ige to pray with him inside the octagon.
Watch the interaction below:
Mitchell's actions divided the MMA internet extensively. While some found it 'weird' and 'virtue signaling', others claimed it was perfectly fine to express one's religious sentiments in this manner inside the cage.
Read the comments here.
#1 Francis Ngannou has issues with Tyson Fury's gloves
Francis Ngannou recently made an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast and accused his boxing debut opponent Tyson Fury of being "tricky" with his gloves.
"He’s very tricky with his glove," said Ngannou. "I think he cheats... If you want us to fight bare hands, bare-knuckle, let’s go bare-knuckle. But don’t give me 10-ounce gloves and wear 8-ounce or 6-ounce gloves because he has no protection. No."
The accusation largely stems from Deontay Wilder's previous comments about Fury's gloves. Ahead of their trilogy, Fury's gloves were cut open and there was an "illegal" horse hair inside to reduce the padding and land a harder punch, Wilder said to 78SportsTV.
However, Ngannou's comments did not sit well with the fans, who accused him of making excuses.