BELAL MUHAMMAD was left with two horrific war wounds following his ill-fated welterweight title defence against Jack Della Maddalena.
The Palestinian-born American looked to make the first defence of the 170lbs strap he wrestled from Leon Edwards‘ clutches last July early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 315.
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But his reign as king of the welterweights came to an abrupt end courtesy of a unanimous decision defeat.
Della Maddalena, 28, was electric with his striking from the outset and peppered the former champion’s face with pinpoint punches.
He opened up a huge gash under the left eye of Muhammad with a beautiful knee in the fifth round.
But the extent of the damage Muhammad suffered only emerged once doctors gave him a once-over backstage.
A photo shared by UFC supremo Dana White showed that as well as a cut under his eye, Muhammad’s upper lip had been SPLIT IN HALF.
And White couldn’t help but praise the 36-year-old for the grit and determination he showed fighting with a cut straight from a horror movie.
Sharing the photo on his Instagram story, White wrote: “What a WAR!! Broken nose, orbital and split lip. #Respect.”
So severe were the injuries Muhammad suffered that he was rushed backstage without a post-fight interview.
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But he broke his silence on the defeat on X, writing: “Allah’s plan is the best plan.
“Alhamdillah for everything. Thank you to all my supporters. I’ve been here before and I’ll be back.”
Victory over Muhammad saw JDM become only the third Australian to win UFC gold.
He said: “It’s exactly how I thought it would feel. It feels f***ing good.
“I knew I had to be smart on my feet. I should have been a bit sharper with the shots.
“Coming in there against someone like Belal with that pressure wrestling, I knew I had to be smart.
“I thought I was ahead, I wanted to take him out of there. Belal’s the man, he’s a tough dude.
“Australia, we got three of these babies. Let’s go!”