A brutal injury sustained by UFC star Rongzhu has sparked fears among fans that the Chinese fighter has lost sight in one eye.
The 24-year-old, competing in just his second bout after returning to the promotion this year, suffered fractures to his eye socket during his loss to Chris Padilla at UFC Vegas 97 on Saturday night.
His injury came as a result of a devastating elbow from the American in the second round, which Rongzhu reacted to by pointing at his opponent and accusing him of using his fingers to poke him.
Rongzhu attempted to continue but referee Kerry Hatley was forced to put a stop to proceedings with the fighter's eye swelling considerably. He was taken to hospital for a precautionary scan, according to MMAMania.com.
His manager Little Yama confirmed that 'multiple fractures' had been suffered and revealed that the Chinese fighter 'still cannot open his eye.'
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Fans reacted in horror to the huge blow, with several fearing for Rongzhu's sight.
'That RongZhu TKO was nasty, I actually thought he might go blind on that eye... anyone know if he's fine? Didn't see any news so guess it was just an orbital injury.' Wrote one concerned spectator on X.
Another said: 'WOW!!! Is that the nastiest elbow you've ever seen. Chris Padilla completely destroys Rongzhu left Eye.'
His opponent Padilla did not seem to share the same worry post-fight as he instead defended his move after stretching his MMA record to 15-6.
'Who's splitting someone with an elbow, swelling their eye up?' He said. That's why in the cage I was saying, 'No mas' because he was saying 'Eye poke, eye poke'.
'Come on, boy! I eye-poked you with an elbow. I don't got fingers on my elbows. You know that s*** smushed your eye. That’s why I was like, ‘Ah! I must kill you now’ and when they called the [doctor] in, I was like, ‘He don’t want no more’.
'This is no disrespect to him because I think I really smushed his eye, personally. I felt that b**** mush, excuse my language.'
Despite his eye-catching finish, Padilla was not among the four $50,000 bonus recipients chosen by UFC president Dana White after each event. The lucky beneficiaries were Steve Garcia and Cody Durden after their wins against Kyle Nelson and Matt Schnell.
Former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and rising star Natalia Silva also got an additional cash prize.
