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Good to see you again, gorehounds! For our second edition of the Injury Report round-up, we go international for a few MMA events that had some gruesome injuries that I have compiled for you here. Plus, we get into who was recently cleared to return to competition.
So, where are we off to first? Bahrain for BRAVE Combat Federation!
Braveja Vu
Beknazar Zhanybekov (ankle)
There were eight fights at Brave CF 79 this past Saturday — and two of them ended within the first few seconds after a fighter suffered a leg injury. Yes, you read that right.
Plenty of eyes were on Ramazan Gitinov vs. Beknazar Zhanybekov, especially given the type of accolades Gitinov has already accumulated throughout his amateur and professional career. The three-time IMMAF champion came into this fight with 33 straight wins (30 as an amateur and three as a pro). So far, each of his Brave CF appearances has ended in the first round, and this appearance was no different. Well, a little different.
Instead of Gitinov inflicting damage, Zhanybekov did that on his own. As soon as the fight started, Zhanybekov kicked Gitinov and fell to the floor. Immediately, a Brave CF commentator said, ‘Possible broken leg here! This fight has been called off. I believe we’ve got a shin fracture.” As Zhanybekov writhed around in pain, we saw his ankle at a very awkward angle.
Watch the fight-ender here, courtesy of the icon Caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman):
No word yet on what type of injury Zhanybekov suffered, but it is never good to see a fighter out of a fight within seconds.
Janos Csukas (knee)
Not even two fights after Beknazar Zhanybekov hurt himself did we have an eerily similar situation with Janos Csukas. In this heavyweight co-headliner, Csukas went to kick Pavel Dailidko, fell to the floor and clutched his knee. “That’s unbelievable! Two fights on one card end in injury!,” said a Brave CF commentator.
Watch it here, courtesy of Caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman):
Now, some speculated that Csukas suffered an ACL or an MCL tear, but aside from an update from one of his coaches, we have had no word yet on what damage was done.
Hopefully, Zhanybekov and Csukas have speedy recoveries.
Nikolay Samusev (arm)
Bonus Brave CF! This happened at Brave CF 77 (Dec. 5, 2023), but since I forgot to include it in the first Injury Report, I wanted to leave it here for you, dear readers.
This is how Nikolay Samusev suffered his first professional loss. These things happen in MMA.
PFL MMA Punishment
Valentina Scatizzi (eye)
Now we head to Ireland for some Professional Fighters League (PFL). For the conclusion of the inaugural PFL Europe season, we had four championship fights, including Dakota Ditcheva vs. Valentina Scatizzi.
Ditcheva turned in one of her most impressive PFL performances thus far, punishing Scatizzi throughout the first five minutes of their fight. ‘Dangerous’ was catching Scatizzi with everything (kicks, knees, everything!), but her shining moments were in the clinch. Whenever Ditcheva tied Scatizzi up, she would unload knee after knee, which ultimately led to a swollen eye. A really swollen eye.
She fought through the rest of the first round, but there was no way Scatizzi could continue with her eye in that condition. And after she returned to her corner, a physician determined she was not fit to continue, waving the fight off ahead of the second round.
Ultimate Fighting Cuts
Carlos Hernandez (eye)
We return to the United States for UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutierrez, where Carlos Hernandez got seriously sliced up in his loss to Tatsuro Taira this past Saturday. After getting a glimpse of Taira on the ground, Hernandez found out his opponent was as dangerous on the feet.
Shortly after the start of the second round, Taira stunned Hernandez with a right hand. From there, the undefeated up-and-comer followed up with a 1-2 combination that sent Hernandez to the canvas, where Taira went for the finish with some ground-and-pound.
Here is the souvenir Taira left Hernandez with:
Ready to Return
Merab Dvalishvili (hand)
After a little tune-up, the ‘Machine’ is ready to return to the Octagon. Following his win against Petr Yan at UFC Las Vegas this past March, Merab Dvalishvili revealed he re-aggravated a hand injury. That required surgery, which he underwent in May. Now Dvalishvili has his next fight scheduled, as he faces another former UFC champion in Henry Cejudo.
In a recent video on his official YouTube channel, Cejudo announced that he and Dvalishvili were added to UFC 298, the upcoming pay-per-view set for Sat., Feb. 17, in California. Now, no contracts are signed, so this fight is not official (yet). Dvalishvili revealed on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani that he does indeed have a contract. However, he wanted to approach the UFC with a request: switch it from three to five rounds. If this is a potential No. 1 contender, then perhaps we should have Cejudo vs. Dvalishvili set for five rounds.
Curtis Blaydes (ankles)
Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida is official — again. Originally scheduled for UFC Sao Paulo in November, Blaydes was forced to withdraw from the fight after injuring both of his ankles. ‘Razor’ was expected to sit on the sidelines for the next few months, so the UFC opted to find a short-notice replacement for Almeida in Derrick Lewis.
Although Almeida was not interested in rescheduling his fight with Blaydes, it appears as though he has re-thought his position. Honestly, this is a great way to gauge his potential, especially against the upper echelon of the division. Now that Blaydes is healthy again, I expect him to give Almeida his toughest test in the UFC thus far. These two collide at UFC 299 in March (first rep. by Damon Martin and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting).
Renato Moicano (knee)
Re-introducing Renato ‘Money’ Moicano! For more than a year, Moicano was sidelined due to a knee injury that required surgery. Now recovered, the 34-year-old has signed on for his next fight and it is already on my list of potential ‘Fight of the Night’ candidates. Why? Well, Moicano is fighting the man with the most knockouts in UFC lightweight history, Drew Dober.
Moicano vs. Dober is set for UFC Fight Night: Dolidze vs. Imavov in February. If there is one thing to expect in this fight, it is violence.
(Re) Face the Pain
Billy Quarantillo (cut)
To cap off this Injury Report, we join Billy Quarantillo in reminiscing on the gnarly cut he had after his win over Alexander Hernandez at UFC 282 a year ago. Per his post-fight press conference, he needed seven or eight stitches.
Hopefully, we see something scheduled for Billy Q soon.