UFC
Bloody cut suffered by "Bigfoot" Silva at UFC 146 only required three stitches, says manager
May 30, 2012 - 10:20:24 AM Bloody cut suffered by "Bigfoot" Silva at UFC 146 only required three stitches, says manager

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Last Saturday's bout between Cain Velasquez and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva was one of the worst bloodbaths in UFC history. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion welcomed the Strikeforce import into the Octagon by opening up a cut between the eyes that bled profusely, obstructing Silva's vision on the ground and covering the canvas a dark crimson.

However, the cut itself wasn't nearly as bad as it appeared from a cosmetic standpoint, Silva's manager Alex Davis revealed this week.

"It wasn't really a big cut," Davis said in an interview with MMAjunkie.com. "It was right between the eyes. It's a very fleshy part. It bleeds a lot. He's a big guy, and his head is very well irrigated, so it was a blood bath.

"But it only [needed] three stitches. It wasn't that bad, but it looked bad on TV."

Davis credited Velasquez for his offense, but said the cut and subsequent issues with blood and vision are a big reason he disapproves of elbows in the UFC.

"I'm against elbows," Davis said. "That's all they do. They do little nick cuts, which aren't really that damaging. They're not submissions, they're not a KO, and the fight gets stopped early or gets messed up early because of a small cut. That's one reason I don't like elbows."

"'Bigfoot' would have survived there," he continued. "We trained that position a lot. I think that if he hadn't been for the cut and the blood in the eyes, he could have ended up sweeping Cain. He at least would have survived, and there would have been more fight, but with the blood in his eyes, he just couldn't see anything."

"It just wasn't his day. He'll be back, though."

Penick's Analysis: It's really surprising that the cut wasn't any bigger than that, but it was just in the right position to cause that much bleeding in the fight on Saturday night. As for elbows in the UFC, I'm always going to point to one fight in particular when debating with critics of elbows: Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera. Jones' elbow attack destroyed Vera's face in that fight in a very similar position as this attack took place against Silva. There's more to elbows on the ground than opening "little nick cuts," and some fighters are immensely dangerous with their elbow strikes on the ground. They can be very damaging, and though Silva was impaired by the blood from the cut, elbows also helped lead to the stoppage when he took a couple to the jaw later in the fight as well.