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Women’s flyweight Miranda Maverick suffered a disappointing loss in her outing against Jasmine Jasudavicius at UFC 289, but it seems the loss wasn’t the most concerning thing to happen to her that night. Though the defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 25-year-old, an injury left her temporarily blind in one eye.
Miranda Maverick shares eye injury at UFC 289
On her official Instagram account, Maverick revealed the frightening injury to fans. Fortunately, she also reassured everyone that most of her vision has already returned, but it still seems like a terrifying experience. Though the flyweight does not know exactly what caused her temporary blindness, she informed her followers that she would be visiting a specialist this week.
Furthermore, Maverick does not blame the freak injury for her loss at UFC 289. Though it was a serious hindrance, she gives Jasudavicius full credit for the victory in Vancouver, Canada.
“Some things are scarier than fighting- and one of those things is going blind. My left eye went blurry end of 2nd round and was completely blind throughout the 3rd round. Its mostly back now and I’ll be meeting with a retina specialist this coming week. But I’ll admit I was scared during that time.” Miranda posted.
“Still, I firmly believe in taking ownership and responsibility for my ups and downs. It wasn’t my night. Jasmine did great in there and capitalized on my hesitations and poor shots today. Congratulations and all respect to her. Sorry to all those I disappointed and thank you to those who don’t let 15 minutes of my life represent who I am. I’ll be back. Canada, Vancouver is a beautiful city and I’m happy to have met the UFC crowd out here.”
UFC has seen serious eye injuries before
As bad as Maverick’s experience may have been, incidents like this one aren’t exactly unheard of in the UFC. Most notably, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was on both ends of this situation. When the ‘Count’ took on Vitor Belfort in January 2013, a TKO loss stemming from a head kick by the Brazilian caused a detached retina in the Brit’s right eye.
In November 2017, when Bisping faced Kelvin Gastelum and retired from the sport after a knockout loss, he explained that fear of going fully blind was what made him walk away from mixed martial arts for good. Now that his career is over, fans have been let in on the fact that the 44-year-old wears a prosthesis in his right eye these days, since the damage was so bad.
However, in April 2013, Bisping was on the other end of the issue when the took on Alan Belcher at UFC 159. After an accidental eye poke from the ‘Count’ left the ‘Talent’ unable to continue, the fight was stopped in the third round and the former champion scored a technical unanimous decision win. Following the match, it was reported that Belcher had to get eight stitches in his eyelid from because of the poke.
Miranda Maverick has winning streak snapped
Before the loss at UFC 289, Miranda Maverick (11-5) had a unanimous decision victory over Shanna Young and a submission won against Sabina Mazo, respectively in November and March of 2022. The streak followed a two-fight losing skid, in which the 25-year-old suffered decision losses to Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Jasmine Jasudavicius (9-2) scored her second straight win after beating Gabriella Fernandes via unanimous decision in her previous bout, in February of this year. The victory over the Brazilian followed the 34-year-old’s sole UFC loss so far, when she dropped a unanimous decision to Natalia Silva, in June 2022.
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