Despite some horrendous-looking knockouts, MMA is widely recognised these days as a generally safe sport, where major injuries are usually confined to the training room rather than inside the cage itself.
Of course, though, there have been a few notable exceptions over the years.
While we’ve seen numerous fighters concussed by knockout blows, we’ve also seen a handful of bones being broken inside the Octagon. More often than not, these are caused by devastating submission holds that essentially pit the whole of a fighter’s weight and strength against a single limb of the opponent.
Something’s gotta give.
Here, then, are five memorable bone-breaking moments in UFC history.
Honourable Mention: Rousimar Palhares and his leglocks
I’m beginning with an honourable mention. Perhaps the most feared submission artist in UFC history is Rousimar ‘Toquinho’ Palhares, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who is built like a fire hydrant and appears to have the demeanour of a rabid dog.
Palhares fought under the UFC banner from 2008 to 2013, fighting twelve times. In that time he also sent five of his opponents to the hospital.
The reason none of his submissions makes the list is that he favoured leglocks, most notably the heel hook, a move that attacks the knee joint rather than looking to hyper-extend the limb.
As far as I’m aware Palhares never broke a bone during his time with the UFC, but his knee-shredding submissions – as well as a penchant for holding them after the opponent had submitted, a tactic that eventually earned him a ban from the UFC – made him one of the most terrifying opponents possible.
#1: Steve Cantwell debuts in style – UFC Fight Night 16 – 12/10/08
We go back to 2008 for our first entry. The WEC – run by Zuffa as a sister promotion to the UFC – had recently decided to fold their heavier divisions into the UFC, and so Light-Heavyweight champion Steve Cantwell was booked for his UFC debut at the second ‘Fight for the Troops’ card.
Big things were expected of Cantwell, who had only just turned 22, as he’d reeled off three wins and three finishes in the WEC to put his overall record at 6-1.
His opponent was another newcomer in the form of Razak Al-Hassan, who despite his name, hailed from Iowa. He was bringing in a 7-0 record, although he didn’t have the experience at the high level that Cantwell had gotten in the WEC.
Most observers expected Cantwell to win, they just didn’t realise how nasty it’d be.
After an early striking exchange, Cantwell got a takedown in the later part of the first round. From there he mounted Al-Hassan and then went for an armbar. Showing some decent knowledge of submission defence, Al-Hassan attempted to roll and step over Cantwell, but it only made matters worse.
Cantwell almost twisted the arm at the elbow joint before straightening it out, and as Al-Hassan desperately attempted to escape, the pressure on the joint became too much and a break – as well as a dislocation and torn tendons – was clearly visible in a sickening sight. The fight was over.
Perhaps more memorable was the post-fight interview, when Cantwell revelled in the moment, telling Joe Rogan he’d always wanted to break someone’s arm.
Not the most sporting attitude and I guess karma does exist, as Cantwell went on to lose his next five UFC outings and hasn’t fought since February 2012.
#2: Jon Jones’s lucky break – UFC 159 – 04/27/13
Usually broken bones end fights, but fortunately for Jon Jones, the referee didn’t notice him suffer quite a nasty break in his fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 159. If he had, the history books of the Light-Heavyweight division might be totally different.
Set up by Sonnen basically talking himself into the fight – and then a subsequent season of TUF built around the rivalry – Jones’s fifth title defense was seen by many fans as most likely his easiest.
After all, Sonnen had been an 185lber for the majority of his career, and after a failed attempt at toppling Anderson Silva at Middleweight, he was seen as a fighter on the wane. Jones meanwhile looked unstoppable; he’d been cutting a swath through the 205lbs division since his 2008 debut and didn’t seem to be slowing at all.
On paper, this was about as one-sided as UFC title fights ever get.
Given Jones had a large reach advantage on Sonnen, it was surprising to see him look for the takedown in the early going – especially as Sonnen’s wrestling was his big strength. Jones was most likely looking to send a message though as he planted the challenger with a pair of early takedowns and began to work him over from the top.
So far, so good.
Although Sonnen was able to get to his feet, a slam put him back down and from there Jones seemed to be in no mood to take his time. He opened up with a vicious barrage of punches and elbows that forced referee Keith Peterson to stop the fight late in the first round.
The fight had been as one-sided as everyone had expected, but post-fight it soon emerged that it could’ve been very, very different.
During the post-fight interview, Joe Rogan pointed out that Jones had suffered an absolutely gruesome injury. The big toe on his left foot was severely broken to the point where it appeared to be almost hanging off.
It was one of the sickest visuals in MMA history.
Upon noticing the injury – which appeared to have happened as Jones shot in for the takedown, pushing his feet off the mat – Jones immediately asked for a stool to sit on. Most likely, his adrenaline was wearing off and he was heading into shock.
What would’ve been more shocking was what could’ve happened had Peterson spotted the injury, or had the round ended before the TKO. There’s no way Jones would’ve been allowed to continue with such a gory injury, and so we would’ve had UFC Light-Heavyweight champion, Chael Sonnen!
Sonnen was literally inches away from capturing UFC gold, in a fight, he never came close to truly winning. You could almost call it an unlucky break.
#3: Mir gets snappy with Sylvia – UFC 48 – 06/19/04
The fight between Frank Mir and Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight title at UFC 48 was seen as a great clash of styles: the incredible grappling skills and submissions of Mir against the takedown defence and concussive striking power of Sylvia.
Coming in, though, it was Big Tim who was the favourite. He’d already won the title once – knocking out another tremendous grappler in Ricco Rodriguez – and was unbeaten in his career at 16-0. A positive test for anabolic steroids had robbed him of the title and put his career on hold for a year, but now he seemed back with a vengeance.
Mir meanwhile was coming off a pair of unconvincing wins over the unproven Wes Sims, a disqualification when Sims had stomped on his head, and a knockout when both men were badly gassed in the second round.
Sylvia was expected to look to keep the shorter Mir on the end of his punches, but when Mir threw an early kick, Big Tim couldn’t resist. He caught the leg and tackled Mir to the ground, although replays suggested that Mir may have been diving to guard.
From there, the fight only lasted a few more seconds.
Mir threw his legs and hips up for an armbar, catching Sylvia’s right arm. Sylvia responded by attempting to stand and slam his way out of the hold, but the combination of Mir’s weight and strength, as well as the effort from Sylvia to escape, proved to be too much for his arm to handle.
Referee Herb Dean stepped in before Sylvia was able to tap. Confusion abounded as Sylvia stood and claimed he couldn’t understand why the fight had been stopped, while Mir celebrated. Tim even tried to claim he could continue.
Chants of “bullshit” were heard from the crowd until the replays hit the big screen and showed one of the most horrifying visuals in UFC history – Sylvia’s forearm had literally snapped, bulging out at a totally unnatural angle.
Dean’s stoppage then turned out to be one of the best in MMA history – had he not stepped in, Sylvia’s arm may well have been totally ruined and his career could’ve ended.
As for Mir, although this was one of the highest points of his career – he never won the undisputed title again although he did capture an interim belt – it wouldn’t be the only time he broke a bone inside the Octagon.
#4: Mir re-arranges Nogueira’s arm – UFC 140 – 12/10/11
Although Mir’s submission skills were notorious following the Sylvia fight, not many people expected a submission to occur in his UFC 140 rematch with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Widely recognised as the two best Heavyweight submission grapplers, Mir and Nogueira had fought once before, at UFC 92 in 2008. The fight hadn’t even hit the mat then, as Mir had surprisingly knocked out the legendarily durable Brazilian on the feet.
Nogueira had always claimed he was hampered by a bad staph infection prior to that fight, and so when a rematch was announced for UFC 140, he was gunning for revenge.
Unfortunately for him, it didn’t quite pan out that way.
With the general consensus being that the two men’s grappling skills would cancel each other out if the fight hit the mat, the fight was expected to largely take place on the feet again. Nogueira had recently knocked out up-and-comer Brendan Schaub, showing his hands were once again sharp, while Mir had put on the best kickboxing performance of his life in his previous fight, beating Roy Nelson from pillar to post.
Unlike the first fight, it was Nogueira who gained the early advantage standing. Using a stiff jab, he seemed to be beating Mir to the punch, and when the two men clinched, the Brazilian broke off with a knee that wobbled Mir’s legs. A combination followed, and Mir went down face-first.
That’s when Nogueira made a rare mistake.
Perhaps looking to cement his reputation as the division’s premier grappler, rather than look to finish the woozy Mir with more punches, Nogueira instead attempted to lock up a guillotine choke, dropping to his back in the process.
Mir had enough left in the tank to roll, alleviating the pressure on his neck, but in the process, Nogueira was able to hit a switch. From there he attempted to take Mir’s back, but without realising, his right arm was trapped underneath Mir’s body.
Mir spotted this and laced up the arm, rolling directly into a tight kimura. He stepped over Nogueira’s head in an attempt to finish it off, but the Brazilian gritted his teeth and tried to roll out.
Mir rolled with him, and as Nogueira continued to fight, the former champion yanked the arm further backwards....until it snapped completely, forcing Nogueira to tap out weakly and sending Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan into rapture.
The fight remains probably Mir’s greatest victory, when you consider that he became not only the first man to tap out the legendary submission artist Nogueira, but also the first man to break three arms in UFC history; along with the Sylvia armbar, Mir had also broken the arm of Roberto Traven in his UFC debut.
Mir never had a nickname in his career, but looking back, ‘Bonebreaker’ would’ve been appropriate.
#5: Anderson Silva’s leg turns into a flipper – UFC 168 – 12/28/13
We end with one of the most replayed clips in UFC history, an injury so bad that it almost ended the career of one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Anderson Silva’s seven-year reign as UFC Middleweight champion had come to a violent end at the hands of Chris Weidman at UFC 162, but due to the way the fight ended – Silva had left himself open for the knockout by showboating – practically everyone was calling for an immediate rematch.
UFC acquiesced and the fight was booked for the final show of 2013, UFC 168. It was expected that Silva would come in much more seriously than he had in the first fight. Weidman for his part, once again, remained stoic and confident.
Judging by the first round, if Silva was more serious this time, it did not seem to be helping him at all.
Looking to secure the same plum clinch he’d used to destroy Rich Franklin back in 2006, Silva left himself open to eat strikes and his chin just couldn’t seem to hold up to Weidman’s power. He’d been knocked down by a series of punches, and the rest of the round was spent with Weidman on top working ground-and-pound.
One in the books for the new champion.
In the first fight, the one tactic Silva had seen some success with was his leg kicks. He hadn’t used them a lot in the UFC but prior to his stint there, they were one of his primary weapons – witness him using them to chop down Lee Murray, for instance.
Weidman’s coaches were concerned about this, and in cerebral fashion, they’d had him drilling a technique that one of his coaches called ‘The Destruction’ – a “hard” check of the kick, basically lifting the leg lower than a fighter would in a “soft” check, causing the attacker’s shin to connect with the hardest part of the fighter’s shin bone, the part directly underneath the kneecap.
Early in the second round, Silva fired out a left leg kick, and Weidman lifted his leg into the “hard” check. A loud crack was heard and Silva stepped backwards....then fell down. His left leg was snapped completely, swinging around like it’d turned into a flipper.
The clip immediately went viral around the world as millions of people were horrified by the sight of the once-great champion crying in agony, the victim to perhaps the worst bone break in UFC history.
Some fans labelled the incident a fluke, but in reality, it was Weidman’s drilling of the check that caused it to happen more than anything else. It was, in essence, aggressive defence.
The injury would keep Silva out of action for over a year, and since returning he’s never looked the same. Granted, some of that is definitely to do with his advanced age, but you can’t help but wonder what such a nasty break must’ve done to his psyche.
Know of any more bad breaks, in or out of the UFC? Let me know!
Until next time.....
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