Tell me if this story sounds familiar to you. A UFC fighter suffered a broken orbital on the first punch of the fight, then proceeded to get beaten up for the remainder of the contest en route to a shutout loss. Could it be Heath Herring, who was demolished by Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 in 2008? What about Josh Koscheck after Georges St-Pierre jabbed him to pieces in 2010? You can add former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis to this list after UFC Tonight reported that he suffered the same fate via the first of many huge left hands thrown by Rafael dos Anjos.
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Pettis is expected to be out for up to six weeks, although he will be re-evaluated in Milwaukee according to his manager Mike Roberts. Earlier in the week it was revealed that he had suffered a concussion and received “Showtime” was visibly uncomfortable in the early stages of the fight and his right eye continued to swell throughout the night. At the end of the 4th round, he told his trainer Duke Roufus that he couldn’t see out of his right eye, but the fight continued and went the distance in an eventual 50-45 shutout loss to dos Anjos.
Obviously not all fractured orbitals are the same, but the GSP vs. Koscheck fight is about as comparable as you can get in this situation. Koscheck has had repeated problems with his right eye post-GSP, including in his KO win against Matt Hughes, and is 2-4 in his last 6 bouts. Time will tell whether or not Pettis, who has battled through various other injuries throughout his career, will have his career significantly altered by this injury.
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