Ryan Benoit had to battle through a fractured leg in a hard-fought loss to Zarrukh Adashev at UFC on ESPN 28 on Saturday.
Benoit (10-8 MMA, 3-6 UFC) revealed that he broke his fibular head early on in the fight after taking Adashev’s heavy leg kicks, but he never stopped pressing forward. The flyweight was immediately transported to the hospital following his unanimous decision loss to Adashev (4-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), and his leg was severely swollen.
“I’d still chase him around if we had more time to scrap! 😡
Broke my fibular head (probably early in the fight if a rocket scientist had to guess). The hospital was very concerned about the swelling and possible compartment syndrome so they kept me overnight and they are still monitoring until tmrw.
Thanks everyone for the love and support 🙏👊 #TeamBabyface#TeamBenoit”
The loss marked Benoit’s third straight and fifth out of his past seven appearances, overall. The 31-year-old hasn’t notched a victory since knocking Ashkan Mokhtarian out in November 2017. However, he pushed forward until the very end against Adashev despite the clear damage to his leg.
A timetable for Benoit’s recovery was not revealed.
