UFC stars Chris Duncan and Mateusz Rebecki were left unrecognizable after their co-main event descended into a bloodbath on Saturday night.
The lightweight stars faced off at UFC Vegas 108 and made sure to give fight fans their money’s worth as they viciously battled throughout their three-round bout.
Heading into the fight, Scottish star Duncan was the bookie’s underdog but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise given Rebecki’s state by the end of the fight.
The Polish fighter was left disfigured, bloody and bruised after being on the receiving end of a striking clinic from his Scottish counterpart.
It was enough to earn Duncan a unanimous decision victory, however, some would argue that the Scottish star hardly ‘won’ given the brutal damage he also suffered.
The 32-year-old had nasty cuts across his face – including one deep gash right below his left eye that appeared to cause him some concern during the fight.
Polish UFC star Mateusz Rebecki was left unrecognizable after his fight on Saturday evening
Chris Duncan won the fight but still suffered nasty cuts, bruises and swelling on the night
Duncan, 32, stood triumphantly after judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 in his favor
However, in the end, Duncan battled through and it was Rebecki who wore the scars of defeat upon his face come the final bell.
Notably, Rebecki’s right eye had become incredibly swollen throughout the fight and the Polish star was hardly able to see out of it by the final round.
The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 in Duncan’s favor, which saw him extend his professional MMA record to 14-2 – in one of the biggest upsets of the night.
The bout was so thrilling that it caught the attention of a number of prominent names within the UFC. Recently retired star Dustin Poirier wrote: ‘Bravo men!! What a WAR!! You both should be proud’.
Though it may be hard to believe, prior to their fight in Vegas, Duncan and Rebecki were teammates and both trained with American Top Team.
Speaking ahead of the bout, Rebecki revealed: ‘For me, it’s difficult. We live together. He lived behind my wall. It’s a funny situation because nobody in the world has that situation.
‘You have teammate and an opponent in a place where you live. It’s hard for your mind, but you can be better because you see how he trained.
‘If you rest, your opponent go to training. When I see he go training and running, I want to do more. A couple minutes more running or go earlier to sleep.
Rebecki’s right eye was completely swollen and he suffered a nasty cut above his brow
Scottish star Duncan was similarly unrecognizable before medics wiped away his blood
‘Do more than him. It’s motivation. Stressful of course, but I didn’t want to fight with him because he is my teammate.’
In the end, it wasn’t meant to be for Rebecki on the night and the pre-fight favorite picked up another loss – moving his record to 20-3.
The gruesome scenes comes just a week after one fighter was left with gruesome injuries at UFC Abu Dhabi.
UFC fighter Mohammad Yahya suffered a horrifying eye injury which saw it swell up to the size of a tennis ball after a brutal beatdown from Steven Nguyen.
The 32-year-old knocked down his rival six times, smashing the record for total number of knockdowns in a single fight in the championship’s history.
The previous record of five was shared by Jeremy Stephens (who defeated Gilbert Melendez in 2017) and Forrest Petz (who defeated Sammy Morgan in 2006).
