Awful news has come out of Istanbul, Turkey that famed kickboxer (and sometimes World Series of Fighting light heavyweight) Tyrone Spong suffered a serious leg injury in his light heavyweight championship bout with Gokhan Saki at Glory 15.
In the first round of their bout, Saki threw a nonchalant front kick to Spong's oblique. Spong attempted to counter with a leg kick of his own. Saki checked the kick, with Spong's shin making contact with his knee. Spong's leg was visibly broken as a result.
Fansided's ZombieProphet was quick to put out a GIF of the injury, which you can see here.
Tyrone Spong suffers nasty broken leg at GLORY 15 (GIF) http://t.co/vy57Lnl9Sd
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) April 12, 2014
The injury is reminiscent of December's UFC bout between middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former champion Anderson Silva. "The Spider," like Spong, threw a leg kick that made contact with the opponent's knee, causing a catastrophic break that left his foot dangling freely.
Update:
Spong underwent surgery, and was released Monday:
The King of the Ring @Tyrone_spong is out of surgery! Let's wish him a quick, safe recovery! pic.twitter.com/VyYFriHkBB
— GLORY World Series (@GLORY_WS) April 14, 2014
Spong is one of Glory kickboxing's biggest draws and owned a 5-0 record with the promotion entering this bout. His night started off well, as he advanced to the semifinals of the light heavyweight championship tournament with a unanimous-decision win over Brazilian Saulo Cavalari.
Saki and Spong faced off once in the past at the 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix, which saw Saki score a fourth-round knockout.
Obviously, this puts Spong's combat sports career on an indefinite hold. He was scheduled to face off with a yet-to-be-announced opponent at the upcoming World Series of Fighting 11 on July 5, but he will not be able to compete on the card (barring something supernatural).
Glory 15 is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night on Spike TV.
