Fans watched in disgust and awe as featherweight Gabriel Benitez bravely carried on despite blood and muscle being left gruesomely exposed under his shin after he sustained a horrifying cut during his UFC defeat to Omar Morales.
Benitez’s shin splinted grotesquely as he soldiered on in a punishing thriller against Morales, losing a unanimous decision and a trail of blood on a night when his bravery stole the headlines behind closed doors at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida.
The Mexican toughman’s leg tattoo was eviscerated by the bone-baring blow, although he was able to show off the deep wound and laugh about his pain on social media after the scrap, admitting he had fallen foul of a “real power kick.”
“In case you don’t know how the body works, that there is a shin bone,” the television commentary team explained to viewers who were treated to a close-up of the grisly lesion while physios tried to apply treatment after the fight.
“[It’s] behind that skin that is peeled apart. He fought through that the entire time.”
Other analysts could be heard laughing nervously and howling with horror as a member of Benitez’s team took a swab to the harrowing cut.
WARNING: GRAPHIC
Another view on Gabriel Benitez’s shin split…??#MMATwitter#UFCJAX#UFCJacksonvillepic.twitter.com/ylVStJpaxd
Bellator fighter Kyle Crutchmer hailed Benitez a “warrior” but many fans were unable to contain their shock after seeing the state of his tattered shin.
“That looks so bad,” wrote one, while another gasped: “F***ing hell – Gabriel Benitez just fought for 15 minutes with his leg looking like this.”
Fucking hell Gabriel Benítez just fought for 15 minutes with he leg looking like this ? #UFCJAXpic.twitter.com/0F5Kdrpgps
That looks so bad
Gabriel Benitez’s leg has a literal hole in it after that fight. #UFC ? pic.twitter.com/kztOqZ3Jp2
NESN analyst Andre Khatchaturian wrote: “Gabriel Benitez’s leg has a literal hole in it after that fight.”
As well as giving a post-fight view of his shin to his following of almost 19,000 on Instagram, Benitez reposted a story in which featherweight prospect Kyle Driscoll described him as a “bad motherf*****.”
Real power kick
The 31-year-old Tijuana resident has been victorious in 21 of his 29 professional fights but slipped to a second consecutive loss and has now not won since May 2018.
Both fighters voiced their respect for each other and won praise for a bout that extended Morales’s perfect record to 10 unbeaten outings.
The Venezuelan appeared to have escaped with little more than bruises and cuts to his face, filming himself celebrating with his team over beers afterwards.
