LONG BEACH, Calif. – Bellator 286 got off to a gruesome start Saturday when [autotag]Richard Palencia[/autotag] broke his leg in the first fight of the fight.
After a kicking exchange in the opening moments of the second round of his bantamweight bout with [autotag]Cee Jay Hamilton[/autotag], Palencia stepped back and saw his leg buckle.
Palencia (10-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) immediately collapsed to the ground holding his leg in agony, and the bout was waved off just 12 seconds into the second round at at Long Beach Arena, giving Hamilton (16-9 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) the TKO victory.
Check out the NSFW replay below (via Twitter):
An unfortunate ending to the opening fight of the night 👇
Tune in to the #Bellator286 prelims, brought to you by @MonsterEnergy and fueled by @Mirabito.
🔗 https://t.co/zMdsHRAwvX pic.twitter.com/3YN6B6N5MP
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 1, 2022
It was a shocking way for Palencia to suffer his first defeat.
He seemed to be in good spirits as he was placed on a stretcher and removed from the cage by medical staff.
Richard Palencia was stretchered out of the cage after his perfect record was ruined by a broke leg in the #Bellator286 opener. 🙏
Full story: https://t.co/n1g9qSJBbl pic.twitter.com/qJW6YBj9NT
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 1, 2022
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.