Robert Whittaker.PHOTO: UFC
He ended the match quickly, unexpectedly. Robert Whittaker experienced a painful strangulation at this weekend’s UFC 308 tournament in Abu Dhabi. Khamzat Chimaev grabbed him by the jaw and began to tighten. Two seconds? Then came the end. A few hours after the match, it became clear that the Australian had a broken jaw and knocked out teeth. The next day it became clear that the operation will probably be necessary, it looks like wiring.
Whittaker’s ugly submission loss was as devastating as it looked. Chimaev became the first UFC fighter to defeat Whittaker by submission. As the loser quickly gave up, it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Later, a photo was released that revealed the injury.
Dr. Brian Sutterer, a popular YouTuber who regularly discusses sports injuries on his channel, uploaded a video commenting on the gruesome finish and speculating on the extent of the injury.
“What you’re looking at is the bottom row of teeth, and those three teeth in the front are pushed into the mouth because his jaw is broken,” Sutterer said of the photo.
“It’s not just that those teeth fell out. The teeth are actually still attached to the bottom where they’re anchored in the jaw, but the jaw is broken in a way that caused his teeth to move all the way back. It’s not like would those teeth just fall out or be knocked out, no, the entire anchorage for those three teeth broke, causing those teeth to shift,” the MMA Fighting website quoted another description of the injury as saying.
As everyone would have guessed, Whittaker will undergo surgery to address his injury. He should be out for several months.
“Treatment will be some type of surgery to put the teeth and bone back in place. A plate potentially braces across the teeth. There is a real possibility that Whittaker will have his jaw shut for some time, so this is a serious, serious injury,” he said also Sutterer.
Viktor Pesta also suffered a similar injury. The year was 2019 and Michal Martínek hit the target, Viktor Pešta left with a broken jaw and headed to the hospital. Less than three minutes in the octagon and at the event of the organization OKTAGON MMA was settled.
Wiring, pads and rubber bands. Pesta was richer for all this after the operation at the end of 2019. “I didn’t realize right away that it was broken. Suddenly I felt a gap and thought I had a tooth knocked out. It gradually dawned on me that something was wrong. When he pushed my face away , everything shifted in my face. It was impossible to continue with this, madness. One more blow could have had fatal consequences and the subsequent recovery could have been several times longer.” Pešta commented on the key moment after the operation.
