The GLORY 83 main event kickboxing took place in Essen, Germany last Saturday. The event was disappointingly cut short by an injury. Sergej Maslobojev competed in a five-round match to defend his light-heavyweight title against Donegi Abena.
Most of the bout featured toe-to-toe action between Maslobojev and Abena. However, it ended abruptly in the fourth round. Abena successfully blocked a right leg kick from Maslobojev, which opened up a severe cut on the champion’s shin.
To get the cageside doctor’s assessment of Maslobojev’s injury, the central referee signaled a pause in play. When authorities determined that the Lithuanian was unable to continue, he stormed out of the cage in protest. His team claims to have filed an official protest, requesting documents confirming the qualifications of the cageside doctor.
Abena won the match via doctor’s stoppage. He became the new GLORY light heavyweight champion. The 24-year-old also made history as the promotion’s youngest kickboxing champion.
Masloboyev camp also wants Glory to take his responsibility and apologize.
Due to tragic injuries sustained by athletes, some UFC major events have met with sad outcomes. One example includes McGregor’s broken leg, which has kept the Irishman out of the Octagon since UFC 264 in July 2021. Some others include Calvin Kattar suffering from a knee injury in the UFC Vegas 63 main event against Arnold Allen and Tom Aspinall’s blown-out knee in his match against Curtis Blaydes at UFC London.
Aside from these, injuries have also led to the early stoppage of UFC title bouts. At UFC 163, Jose Aldo defeated Chan Sung Jung by way of a TKO. However, the finishing move was brought on by Cha Sung Jung dislocating his elbow.
Additionally, Patrick Cote was giving Anderson Silva a difficult fight before suffering an ACL injury in the UFC 90 main event. Silva stayed unbeaten for another eight bouts. However, his impressive streak came to a stop in 2013 when Chris Weidman defeated him with a second-round TKO victory. When Weidman blocked Silva’s leg kick in round 2, his shin horrifyingly snapped.