Top 5: Worst Cuts in UFC History

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It was if Jason Voorhees had lured Marvin Eastman into the woods at Camp Crystal Lake, leaped out from the shadows and struck him above the right eye with a felling axe.

Vitor Belfort nailed down his first win under the Ultimate Fighting Championship flag in almost five years when he buried “The Beastman” with a hailstorm of knees and punches in the first round of their UFC 43 light heavyweight showcase on June 6, 2003 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. The end came 67 seconds into Round 1. As soon as Eastman rose to his feet, the extent of the damage was visible for all to see. A collective gasp could be heard rippling through the crowd of nearly 10,000 in attendance.

Above Eastman’s right eye was gruesome laceration that travelled upward, almost parallel to his entire eyebrow. The gash resulted from one of Belfort’s vicious knee strikes and stretched about an inch wide. Those who patched up the wounded Eastman once he returned to the locker room could exposed skull. It served as a constant reminder of Belfort’s explosive capabilities.

More than two decades a decade later, it ranks as one of the worst cuts in UFC history. Here are four more to consider:

Gregory Rodrigues vs. Chidi Njokuani
UFC Fight Night 210
Sept. 17, 2022 | Las Vegas
Rodrigues overcame a horrific horizontal cut between his eyes to put away the former Tachi Palace Fights champion with punches in the second round of their middleweight co-main event at the UFC Apex. The encounter came to a dramatic close 1:27 into Round 2. Njokuani walked the Brazilian into a brutal knee strike to the face in the first round—accompanied by an audible crack, the impact sliced opened a gash that stretched from one eye to the next—and swarmed for a possible finish, blood streaming from the wound. Rodrigues refused to back down, returned fire and eventually staggered the Saeksan Janjira protégé with right hands, clinch uppercuts and elbows. Njokuani had little left in the tank at the start of Round 2. There, Rodrigues bullied him to the canvas, postured in a kneeling position and let his hands go until the job was done. Afterward, photographs of the laceration made the rounds on social media—they showed exposed bone and blood vessels—and may have had a few unfortunate souls reaching for the Zofran.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Alistair Overeem
UFC on ESPN 7
Dec. 7, 2019 | Washington, D.C.
Rozenstruik knocked out the former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 World Grand Prix champion with a sweeping right hook in the fifth round of their headliner at Capitol One Arena. The confrontation ended 4:56 into Round 5. Overeem used a combination of guile and brawn to build a substantial lead, controlling significant portions of the first four-plus rounds with cautious but intelligent standup, a stifling clinch, tactical takedowns and ground-and-pound. Rozenstruik was seemingly headed for his first MMA defeat in the waning seconds, but he followed a shovel uppercut with a searing right hand. The impact split Overeem’s upper lip and sat him down at the base of the cage. He jumped immediately to his feet but stumbled across the cage in a dazed state, leading referee Dan Miragliotta to call for the stoppage. Overeem’s wound required plastic surgery.

B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
UFC 107
Dec. 12, 2009 | Memphis, Tennessee
Penn introduced “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner and former King of the Cage titleholder to a level of excellence with which he was not familiar in their main event at the FedEx Forum. Sanchez challenged the popular Hawaiian for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight crown and endured almost five full rounds of torture. Penn outlanded him by a 149-8 margin and denied all 27 of his takedown attempts. The opportunity turned into an exercise in futility for the outgunned Sanchez, who went an almost unimaginable 8-for-108 in the total strikes department. Penn brought his misery to an end in the fifth round, where the only head kick he threw the entire fight resulted in an enormous gash on the challenger’s forehead above his left eye. Blood sprang forth, and the bout was called 2:37 into Round 5. Sanchez might as well have been hit by a meat cleaver.

Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
UFC 306
Sept. 14, 2024 | Las Vegas
An untrained eye could have mistaken it for an autopsy incision gone awry. Dumont laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over the Lobo Gym standout in their featured women’s bantamweight prelim at the Sphere. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Dumont. However, much of the post-fight talk centered on the ghastly vertical gash Aldana suffered due to a clash of heads in the second round. It spanned several inches, from the top of her forehead to just below her right eyebrow. The cageside physician examined the cut and somehow allowed the bout to proceed to a third round. There, Aldana fought through considerable blood loss and connected with 32 strikes—nearly as many as she had landed across the first two rounds combined. She has not competed since.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald (UFC 189); Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal, UFC 244; Joe Lauzon vs. Jim Miller, UFC 155; Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher (UFC 77); Joe Stevenson vs. B.J. Penn (UFC 80); Yadong Song vs. Cory Sandhagen (UFC Fight Night 210); Chael Sonnen vs. Nate Marquardt (UFC 109); Stefan Struve vs. Denis Stojnic (UFC 99); Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva (UFC on ESPN 59); Joel Alvarez vs. Arman Tsarukyan (UFC Fight Night 202); Matt Hamill vs. Tim Boetsch (UFC 130); Antonio Silva vs. Cain Velasquez (UFC 146); Leslie Smith vs. Jessica Eye (UFC 180); Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk (UFC 119); Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson (UFC 303)