Images have been revealed of the horrific rib injury Tyron Woodley suffered during his five-round defeat to Colby Covington at UFC Apex on Saturday.
The fight, which took place in Las Vegas, was comfortably won by Covington, but it will be equally memorable for the severe discomfort that Woodley was in after the bout.
The former welterweight champion was behind for large parts of the fight, but managed to put Covington into a standing guillotine in the fifth and final round.
As both men lowered themselves to the ground, Woodley suddenly jumped back in pain and could be audibly heard shouting, “I’ve hurt my rib!”
The 38-year-old confirmed in the post-fight interviews that his rib had popped out in the initial movement, before then breaking when he tried to stand up.
He said it was “the most pain ever”, and looking at the X-ray images, you can understand why.
Woodley took part in his first professional fight in 2009, before joining UFC in 2013 and winning the welterweight championship in 2016, defeating Robbie Lawler.
He defended his title on four occasions, with his win over Darren Till by submission in 2018 being awarded the Performance of the Night. It was the third time Woodley had received the accolade.
Since that victory, however, he has only fought three times, losing on all three occasions.
One of those defeats, against Kamaru Usman last year, cost him his welterweight title.
(Scroll to 06:15 in the video below to see Woodley's injury)
Despite the recent disappointments, Woodley still holds fifth position in the UFC welterweight rankings, behind Gilbert Burns, Covington, Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal.
Speaking in the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White suggested that Woodley should retire from competition.
He said: “I think that he should start thinking about hanging it up.
“He’s had a great career, he’s had a great run, you know, he’s made money.”