UFC Vegas 97 fighter rushed to hospital after brutal eye injury

AUFC Vegas 97 fight suffered a horrific injury in Nevada on Saturday, September 7 that could have left him blind at the Apex Facility in Nevada, as he was rushed to hospital for emergency medical assessment.

Rong Zhu faced Chris Padilla in the lightweight division after winning his spot back after initially losing his contract with Dana White's fighting division, by rolling off three straight wins in the Road to UFC competition.

But the dream turned to nightmare when Padilla delivered a brutal right elbow to the 24-year-old's eye which immediately began to close and swell up as the referee called over the ringside doctor.

The doctor recommended the fight not continue and as a result the referee waved it off by TKO in favor of Padilla, leaving Zhu upset about the stoppage despite struggling for vision in his swollen eye.

Zhu was taken the medical examination at a local hospital where it was learned that he had multiple fractures and was unable to open his eye, meaning it was the correct call from the doctor and referee to abandon the bout.

The Chinese fighter had initially made his UFC debut back in 2021 at UFC 261 when he lost to Kazula Vargas, and then he lost his contract following a submission defeat to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Vegas 49 in 2022.

Meanwhile Padilla had made his debut at UFC Vegas 91 where he scored a victory over James Llontop in the first round, and coming into the fight was on a four-match winning run, which he has now extended to five.

Brady stops Burns

The Zhu-Padilla fight was serving as part of the preliminary card to a main event showdown between Brazil's Gilbert Burns and the USA's Sean Brady.

In the battle between the nations situated in the Americas, it was the red, white and blue that came out on top with a comfortable unanimous decision victory scored 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.