Back in February, Josh Emmett and Jeremy Stephens went head to head in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Orlando.
The bout between the two featherweights finished at the 1:35 mark in round two, as Stephens beat Emmett by TKO.
However, the match - and especially the finish, was surrounded by controversy - as the way the Lil' Heathen won appeared to be illegal.
FOUL WIN?
Stephens floored his opponent with a left hook - and as Emmett tried to get back to his feet, he was met with a knee and two vicious elbows, before the referee finished the fight.
All three of those strikes were against UFC rules - the knee, which appeared to land on Emmett's temple, came when he was turtled, making it a foul.
Similarly, the two elbows came to the back of his head - which is also illegal. But referee Dan Miragliotta did not call any of them.
THE INJURIES
The fight left Emmett medically suspended for 180 days - however, the actual injuries he suffered from the controversial strikes are far more severe than first thought.
He was diagnosed with a tripod fracture following the bout, but according to Emmett himself, the original hospital diagnosis missed a number of far more serious injuries.
“I went home and I think it was the second day that I was home in Sacramento - I was still on all the pain pills and stuff - and my wife just knew there was something wrong,” he told MMA Hour, via Bloody Elbow.
“I needed emergency surgery. They took me in an ambulance to perform another surgery. My lateral orbital was fractured, my orbital wall, my maxillary sinus - that’s like my cheek - it was completely encaved."
As if that doesn't sound serious enough, Emmett explained that a second CT scan revealed even more damage.
"I had my nasal bone fractured and my zygomatic arch was broken as well, with a few other fractures in the face. It was impinging the main muscle in my eye, which was disturbing the movement of my eye."
STILL FEELING THE EFFECTS
Even almost four months later, he's still feeling the effects of the injuries.
"Still even now from the left side [of my face] over, it’s still completely numb. I have no feeling in my cheek or upper lip and I had just suffered a severe concussion.”
According to doctors though, the featherweight fighter is actually quite lucky that his situation isn't far, far worse.
"Even breaking the bones on the orbital floor and the lateral orbital the bone could’ve punctured the eye or it could have been protruding, like popping out of my socket," Emmett said.
"When they [the doctors] saw me and they could see I could move my eye, they were pretty surprised. They kept telling me how lucky I was - that I could see, for one, and that I could control my eye without it popping out.”
Brutal. Emmett has been reminded of the real dangers that UFC fighters face - so although his injuries sound horrific, he's lucky that they're not even worse.