Irene Aldana had a rough night at the office at UFC 306, and although a lot was unpreventable, some other things were not, at least according to the former UFC title challenger.
Unfortunately for Aldana (15-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC), she suffered arguably the worst cut in UFC history during her decision loss to Norma Dumont in her women’s bantamweight bout at Sphere in Las Vegas last month. It was a gruesome gash that went from the bottom of her eyebrow all the way to her hairline and appeared to be half an inch wide. This nasty cut stemmed from an accidental, but illegal, headbutt towards the end of Round 2.
Although these things happen in the chaotic nature of the fight game, Aldana claims she was hit more than once with headbutts.
“It wasn’t just the only one headbutt, there were multiple in that fight,” Aldana told MMA Junkie in Spanish in an exclusive interview. “I’ve seen that in other similar cases, the referee calls the fighter’s attention. ‘Watch the headbutts, watch the headbutts.’ I think in this situation, there was no warning from the referee.”
But apart from claiming the headbutts were a repeating offense that went unnoticed by referee Herb Dean, Aldana left with several questions about the handling by officials after the clash of heads that caused the massive cut.
“I’ve seen fights stopped for smaller cuts, at least for the doctor to get called to check the cut to see if the fighter should continue,” Aldana said. “Honestly, I thought the approach from the cutman and the commission in the corner was very strange.
“I don’t remember the doctor checking on the cut, and I didn’t get Vaseline. The cutman was putting his weight onto the cut, and I feel like that opened it more. I remember having to posture firmly so I wouldn’t go back because his body weight was on me. I do think it would’ve been best to check the replay and have the doctor check on the cut. On that aspect, I do think it was poorly managed.”
Upon checking the fight replay, it does appear that Aldana didn’t get Vaseline on her cut to stop or reduce the bleeding and help further punches slide off the face easier, thus preventing the cut from worsening. Aldana got a swab and towel pressed on the cut for the entirety of the 60 seconds awarded in between rounds.
Once Round 3 started, the full five minutes ran continuously. Despite having a downpour of blood on her face and body, a doctor was never brought in to check on Aldana, which she found surprising.
“It was risky to continue after seeing he cut and the videos, I mean you could basically see my skull,” Aldana said. “It was a risk, I could’ve gotten a facial paralysis or had big consequences of it, but that’s how things played out, and fortunately, I’m OK. I do hang on to the fact that I got a small chance to go finish the fight. I’m happy with that. But on the way things were handled by the commission, I do have my doubts.”
Aldana has mixed feelings about how things were handled. She knows there was a health risk, but at the same time, the fighter in her was happy she got to display her heart and toughness to the MMA world.
“It was very risky, my health was on the line, but the fighter in me is happy it wasn’t stopped because after seeing the fight, even though my vision was limited, I still connected and came after her,” Aldana explained. “So, I can say I pushed myself as far as I could as a human and a fighter – which is my objective in this sport, to see how far I can push my limits.
“I think that was an achievement from me in that aspect. But of course, I do think, ‘Man, what if something bad would’ve happened? I would’ve had something bad stem from this.’ On the commission side, I don’t know, wipe the blood away, just put Vaseline in. With that, I likely wouldn’t have had as much blood on my face or maybe the cut wouldn’t have opened up as bad as the fight went on. On that aspect, I’m not too happy. But as a fighter, I did get the chance to continue.”
Today, Aldana is back to training strength and conditioning, and understandably so, taking some time away from sparring and contact training.
Although a scary incident, the Lobo Gym product is eager to return to action when her injuries heal.
“I’m more motivated than ever,” Aldana said. “I’ve gone through a lot in this sport – very high highs and very low lows. It’s been an interesting and turbulent journey and after going through so much, I can’t just stop here. Things can’t get worse, I’ve been through a lot. I also find a ton of motivation in getting so much love and support from the community.
“The goal is still the same: winning the UFC title. I’m just going to take some time off and not rush back. I need time to recover and address old injuries. So I’m going in the shop, and then getting back in the gym slowly. As long as my body permits it, I’m going to continue.”
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