MANILA, Philippines – Of all the fight highlights, it was a disturbing eye injury that took the spotlight at UFC Fight Night 81 on Sunday, January 17 (Monday, January 18 in Manila).
Matt Mitrione suffered a gruesome injury in his loss to Travis Browne in the heavyweight division, which became controversial due to a couple of eye pokes from Browne. Photos of his swollen eye went viral on social media.
Mitrione, who dropped to a 9-5 record, posted a photo of the injury on his Twitter account, revealing he broke his orbital bone.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Broken orbital floor. This and the shoulder happened after the 2nd eye poke. I don't think they would've happened <a href="https://t.co/wFn1NC3j5Y">pic.twitter.com/wFn1NC3j5Y</a></p>— Matt Mitrione (@mattmitrione) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattmitrione/status/688983486888280064">January 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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On Tuesday, January 19, he posted a set of follow-up photos as he got his "eyelid drained."
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Getting my eyelid drained this morning. Was not awesome. <a href="https://t.co/LYgrEKlmHc">pic.twitter.com/LYgrEKlmHc</a></p>— Matt Mitrione (@mattmitrione) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattmitrione/status/689302581122887681">January 19, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Mitrione lost to Browne, who improved to an 18-3-1 record, via technical knockout at the 4:09 mark of the third round in what was his last fight in his UFC contract. – Rappler.com