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We saw some gruesome injuries happen on Saturday, but this leg-shattering one was the worst of them all. Light heavyweights Rafael Xavier and Mateusz Strzelczyk fought at Oktagon 44, the event that happened at Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. After suffering a split decision loss to Pavol Langer at Oktagon 39, Xavier hoped to return to the win column against Strzelczyk — and he did.
Oktagon 44 fighter suffers gruesome loss
After dominating Strzelczyk throughout the first and second rounds, Xavier ended things in the third round during one final exchange of leg kicks with his fellow fighter. The distinct sound of a leg shattering rang out across the arena, and as it turned out, a leg was indeed shattered. When Strzelczyk tried to steady himself after the exchange, his leg completely gave out.
Strzelczyk fell to the canvas, and Xavier immediately noticed the gruesome injury, so he turned away as the referee waved off the fight.
You can watch the fight-ending sequence here, courtesy of @ScottishProble on Twitter:
Warning: Video below is graphic. Please proceed with caution.
The win went to Xavier, who recorded a third-round TKO. During his post-fight press conference, he admitted he wanted the referee to end the fight sooner since Strzelczyk was already bloodied and battered before the injury.
“I think he should have stopped it earlier, to be honest,” said Xavier. “Because we all saw how Strzelczyk got hurt.”
‘Kratos’ is now 5-1 in his Oktagon run.
No update yet on the injured fighter
As for Mateusz Strzelczyk, there is no word on his condition yet. He was stretchered out of the Oktagon cage and transported to a local hospital. Both the promotion and his opponent sent well wishes to ‘Pająk,’ who also had a three-fight win streak snapped.
“We wish Strzelczyk all the best in his recovery,” tweeted Oktagon.
“I wish my opponent a good and fast recovery,” commented Xavier.
Hopefully Strzelczyk recovers well enough to return to Oktagon at some point.
Full Oktagon 44 Results
Main Card:
- Pavol Langer def. Alexander Poppeck by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
- Bojan Veličković def. Christian Jungwirth by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Andreas Michailidis def. Mohamed Grabinski by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:02 of Round 2
- Rafael Xavier def. Mateusz Strzelczyk by TKO (leg injury) at 2:47 of Round 3
- Ronald Paradeiser def. Andrew Fisher by TKO (flying knee and ground strikes) at 1:29 of Round 3
- Hokat Khajevand def. Zdenek Polivka by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:04 of Round 2
Preliminary Card:
- Antun Račić def. Nuno Costa by TKO (toe injury) at 3:43 of Round 1
- Łukasz Siwiec def. John Hathaway by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
- Jacinta Austin def. Sofiia Bagishvili by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:19 of Round 1
- Hafeni Nafuka def. Adrian Kepa by submission (armbar) at 2:15 of Round 1
- Hassan Shaaban def. Denis Gondzala by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
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