Pedro Munhoz has shown off the extent of his eye injury after being poked by Sean O'Malley at UFC 276.
The fight between Munhoz and O'Malley was deemed a no-contest because of the accidental eye poke landed by O'Malley halfway through the second round. Munhoz told medical officials he could not see out of the damaged eye, but his injury was called into question by fans and fighters alike.
Munhoz has posted his side of the story and claimed that he has been left with a corneal abrasion after the eye poke. The UFC veteran's left eye is visibly swollen in his Instagram video, with Munhoz adding that he couldn't see for 20 minutes. “To explain briefly what happened in the fight against Sean O’Malley, I was poked in the eye in the first round but kept fighting, and was hit with a low blow shortly after,” Munhoz said.
“The fight restarted and we exchanged a few strikes. In the second round, that’s when I suffered another eye poke. I couldn’t see anything for 20 minutes. I was taken to the hospital and they used a special eyedrop that made my eye numb so they could open my eye.
“They did an exam and the medical report I have is that there’s a scratch in the cornea all the way around it. I couldn’t open my eye because of that and couldn’t see anything. The referee asked if I could see at all and the doctor decided to stop the fight. That’s what happened tonight.”
Munhoz was up on the scorecards heading into the second round against O'Malley, with two of the judges scoring the first round in his favour. O'Malley showed respect to Munhoz after the unfortunate ending to the fight, but later claimed the Brazilian was looking for a way out against him.
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"I was piecing him up, I didn’t get hit once," O'Malley told reporters. "He came in there and said ‘I’m going to kick his legs and take him down’, he tried kicking my legs and it damaged him more. He couldn’t get me up against the fence and couldn’t take me down. I was dominating that fight.”
O'Malley also took aim at his rival on Twitter following the controversial stoppage. "Breaking news!!! Suga state athletic commission officially rules Pedro vs Suga a fat f****ng dub for Suga," he tweeted, whilst also adding he became the first fighter to finish Munhoz.
