The Bellator 286 event was a highly anticipated event. However, the night will be unforgettable for a few fans because of the gruesome injury to Richard Palencia. The incident reminded the fans of what happened with Conor McGregor and Chris Weidman.
Palencia faced off against Cee Jay Hamilton in the bantamweight division non-title fight. The Bantamweight fighter Palencia was the betting favorite, but things went south for him unfortunately. In the opening stages of the second round of their bantamweight fight, Palencia and Hamilton engaged in a kicking exchange, and Palencia stepped back when he felt his leg snap.
Almost instantly, Palencia crumpled to the floor, gripping his leg in anguish. Shortly after the start of the second round, the referee at the Long Beach Arena waived off the fight, awarding Hamilton a technical knockout victory.
It was first speculated by commentator John McCarthy that Palencia’s leg has snapped. “His leg broke, no doubt about it,” McCarthy said. Breaking down the replay, he later added, “That was shin on shin. He knows when he steps back, there it goes. He felt it right here and it was shin on shin, so obviously it fractured at that point. You saw it buckle a little bit there as he took a last step on it. That’s when it definitely came apart.”
An unfortunate ending to the opening fight of the night 👇
Tune in to the #Bellator286 prelims, brought to you by @MonsterEnergy and fueled by @Mirabito.
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— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) October 1, 2022
For Palencia, it was a terrible way to experience his first loss. He seemed to be fully awake as he was taken out of the cage on a stretcher by medical staff. It takes time for these types of major injuries to heal. It has been over a year since McGregor and Weidman, who both suffered comparable injuries, returned to the Octagon. A tough fighter like Palencia, who is only 32 years old, surely has enough willpower left in him to make a comeback.
UFC fans reminisced about Chris Weidman’s leg injury at UFC 261, where he had a similar injury. Conor McGregor, the former UFC two-division champion, suffered a similar injury as well in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
