The main event of UFC on ESPN 36 was shaping up to be a memorable battle, until its abrupt and unfortunate ending due to injury.
Aleksandar Rakic and former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz were in a very competitive back-and-forth fight with a potential shot at the division’s title on the line. However, in the third round, Rakic’s knee buckled out of nowhere in the third round, causing an immediate stop to the fight, rewarding Blachowicz (29-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) with the TKO victory.
According to Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), the injury is one that occurred a few weeks prior to the fight during training camp, but he still competed. He also believes he won the first two rounds of the fight before the injury resurfaced, and says he would have continued to pull away in the later rounds.
