Garcia ‘lost 20% of his blood’ after gruesome UFC Vegas 66 cut hit artery

Anybody tuning in for the UFC Vegas 66 principal card on Saturday night time might have been left questioning what the hell occurred in the course of the prelims to depart the cage so saturated in blood. That may be on account of Rafa Garcia, who suffered a lower on the facet of his head midway by his battle that hit an artery.

Someway, Garcia managed to maintain his composure and win his battle towards Hayisaer Maheshate by way of unanimous determination. He blanked Maheshate on the scorecards 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. However the blood didn’t cease there. Garcia’s coach Cub Swanson shared wild photos from backstage on the UFC APEX as medical workers struggled to staunch the seemingly infinite bleeding.

“It took the UFC medical workers nearly two hours to get it to cease bleeding,” Swanson wrote. “He’s okay now.”

Throughout the ESPN+ post-fight show, Garcia mentioned the incident.

“They instructed me I misplaced 20 % of my blood,” Garcia revealed. “I received a lower artery. They instructed me that they had by no means seen that earlier than. Once they have been stitching me up, Cub instructed me ‘Sit down and simply chill since you misplaced 20 % of your blood, chill somewhat bit.’”

Throughout the post-fight press convention, Rafa stated he was extra involved with what officers considered the lower than any situation relating to the quantity of blood.

“With the ref and the judges, you by no means know,” he stated. “I imply, with the best way they decide it, generally they see an excessive amount of blood, they’ll give ‘em a spherical or cease the battle, you simply by no means know, you understand? In order that made me simply preserve pushing, attempting to make an announcement.”

Scalp cuts are inclined to bleed so much already, and with an artery concerned we might have simply witnessed one of many worst gushers of 2022. The UFC has truly been fortunate on this regard that veins and arteries aren’t nicked extra typically throughout fights. In Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues’ final battle, the Brazilian received cut up open between the eyes, exposing his Supratrochlear artery. Luckily, it remained undamaged, and we averted a massacre that point.

After a 0-2 begin within the UFC, Rafa Garcia has gone on to amass a 3-1 file along with his sole loss coming to Drakkar Shut at UFC 277.