UFC lightweight Rafa Garcia lost a staggering 20 PER CENT of his blood after suffering a horrific cut in his clash with Hayisaer Maheshate.
The pair collided in a catchweight bout on Saturday night on the final UFC card of 2022 in Las Vegas.
Garcia came out of the UFC Vegas 66 contest victorious but was left a bloody mess thanks to a cut artery on the side of his head – which came courtesy of a second-round elbow.
The 28-year-old’s wound was so bad he bled for TWO HOURS straight – which resulted in him nearly losing a quarter of his blood.
The Californian said: “They told me I lost 20 per cent of my blood.
“I got a cut artery. They told me they had never seen that before.
“When they were stitching me up, Cub [Swanson] told me to sit down and just chill because you lost 20 per cent of your blood, chill a little bit.”
In his post-fight press conference, Garcia said: “After the fight, he said: “I think I got like ten stitches, I think.”
When quizzed on the ten stitches being the most he’s ever received, he added: “I think so.
“I haven’t really ever got stitches.
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“Every time I got a little cut, they probably just glued it and that was about it.”
The sheer amount of blood pouring from his head made Garcia fearful of the referee prematurely ending the contest.
He said: “With the ref and judges, you never know, you know?
“Sometimes judges see too much blood and they don’t give them [fighters] a round.
“Or they can stop the fight. You just never know.
“So that made me keep pushing and try to make a statement.”
Victory over China’s Maheshate saw Garcia end the year on the high following a defeat to Drakkar Klose in July.
He said: “I feel like I stepped it up. I was walking always forward and it worked great for me.”
The UFC will resume action on January 14 at the Apex in Las Vegas, with a middleweight showdown between Nassourdine Imaov and Kelvin Gastelum headlining the card.
The promotion’s first pay-per-view event of the year will take place a week later in Brazil, with a light-heavyweight title fight between former champion Glover Texeira and Jamahal Hill topping the bill.
