One UFC 317 fighter didn’t lose his sense of humor despite a damaging defeat.
Heavyweight action kicked off Saturday’s UFC 317 pay-per-view, with Jhonata Diniz and Alvin Hines among those tasked with setting the stage for two championship headliners.
Opening the prelims for a card topped by Charles Oliveira vs. Ilia Topuria and Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France, Diniz and Hines traded blows in a sluggish heavyweight clash.
The more experienced Brazilian clearly got the better of the exchanges, as his strikes bloodied and bruised the debuting Hines during the opening minutes.
The smiling American, though, remained upbeat.
Alvin Hines had a hilarious question for Daniel Cormier moments after his UFC 317 defeat
Hines answered the call for his Octagon debut on short notice, replacing Justin Tafa after the Kiwi heavyweight was forced to withdraw from UFC 317 two weeks out.
The 33-year-old had hoped to pull off an upset in ‘Sin City’, but Diniz ultimately proved to be a hurdle too tall on fight night.
That didn’t dent Hines’ spirit, however. Instead, ‘Goozie’ was cracking jokes in the aftermath of his very first loss in MMA.
He commented on his damaged face by rhetorically asking cageside commentator Daniel Cormier if he got hit during the three-round contest.
“He said, ‘DC, did I even get hit?'” Cormier said while laughing. “Yeah, you got hit quite a few times my friend.”
Alvin Hines absorbed 112 significant strikes in losing UFC 317 debut
Though Hines likely doesn’t need telling, the actual figure of significant strikes he ate at UFC 317 surpassed three figures.
Per UFC Stats, Diniz landed 112 of 182 significant strikes thrown in Saturday’s first fight, landing at a 61 percent success rate.
Of those shots, the majority landed to Hines’ head, and it’s safe to say that those 94 blows accumulated and resulted in heavy damage for the Octagon newcomer.
Nevertheless, Hines’ game performance still attracted praise and might have been enough to net him another opportunity to enter the win column on MMA’s biggest stage.