10 Most Horrifying MMA Injuries Of All Time
Squeamish? Look away now...
It has now been more than five years since UFC President Dana White's famous proclamation that mixed martial arts is the safest sport in the world.
This was, of course, an over-exaggeration. While MMA isn't as barbaric as its detractors would have you believe, the sport largely revolves around men and women bludgeoning each other in the head with the goal of knocking them out, or twisting limbs and cutting off oxygen supplies until they're forced to give up.
Mandatory medical suspensions and strict rulesets are effective safeguards, but they only go so far. Injuries are inevitable, and while MMA's worst damage often goes unseen, in some instances, fighters leave the Octagon looking like casualties in a war film.
Nobody wants to see a fighter get hurt inside the cage, but it's often hard to look away. It's ghoulish, but the publicity that these grisly moments get speaks for itself, with a nasty war wound now just as likely to go viral as a highlight reel knockout.
The graphic content warning should go without saying, but regardless, here are the MMA lesions most likely to make you lose your lunch.
10. Mir Snaps Nogueira
It's easy to forget just how much of a nasty bastard Frank Mir was in his heyday. A confident, charismatic heavyweight, his boastful pre-fight proclamations divided UFC fans, but while from the most complete fighter in the game, he tormented many a foe with his sick Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills.
Sadly, beloved MMA icon Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fell victim to his formidable ground game at UFC 140, having previously eaten his first ever TKO loss against Mir three years prior.
Frank trapped 'Minotauro' on the mat and locked his arm into a Kimura. A gifted submissionist himself, Nogueira had never tapped out at any point in his career, and wasn't going to give up. He suffered for his foolhardiness, as Mir wrenched, and wrenched, and wrenched... until the limb finally went pop.
It was a stomach-churning sight, made worse by the fact that it happened to the universally-popular Nogueira, whose name still inspires incredible devotion from those there for his Pride FC peak. The sight of him on the mat, staring helplessly at his broken, twisted arm was depressing, but unfortunately, it's one of his UFC runs defining images.