MMA is a dangerous sport, and that fact was on full display over the weekend at M-1 Challenge 61. In the main event of the card, Ante Delija suffered a devastating leg injury (Warning: contains graphic imagery) while trying to take the M-1 heavyweight title from Marcin Tybura.
Just after the two-minute mark, Delija attempted to initiate a striking exchange with an outside leg kick. Tybura effortlessly checked it and countered with a right hand. The punch, however, was academic as Delija suffered a brutal leg injury, likely breaking his tibia and fibula. He collapsed to the mat in pain, and the fight would officially end in a TKO via injury at 2:21 of Round 1.
For those not in the know, blocking with the knee (called "checking") is the primary method of defending oneself from leg kicks. While the idea is to avoid taking damage by using the knee to absorb impact from an opponent's shin or instep, checking a hard kick can cause catastrophic damage to the attacker.
As we saw with Anderson Silva, who suffered a similar injury in 2013 against Chris Weidman, fighters can recover from this. While it was a long road to recovery, Silva would return to the cage 13 months later to face Nick Diaz at UFC 183. Hopefully Delija has a smooth, speedy recovery.
