Have you ever been punched so hard you broke your ankle? Now Tim Means can say he has.
In a welterweight fight between Niko Price and Means at UFC Fight Night 146 in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday night, the pair slogged out the early stages of the fight.
Late in the first round, Price hit Means with a savage hook before a few strikes on the ground for good measure.
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The knockdown gave Price a $50,000 Performance of the Night pay check for the brutal KO.
But Means didn’t get up.
What was unsighted on first watch was the fighter landed on his ankle.
He suffered a broken ankle and tibia and will require surgery for the damage.
He took to Instagram to share the injury as he got to hospital.
“I do my best to leave it all in the ring every time out so the fans can get what they paid for,” Means wrote. “Wasn’t my night. I have to get surgery, broken [tibia] and ankle. Niko caught me with a punch and my foot got stuck under me. Much respect to [Price]. See y’all down the road. Thank you to everyone for the kind words.”
For Price, he wants to fight Kamaru Usman, who won the welterweight belt last week at UFC 235.
But he’s in no rush.
“I’m looking to the top – I want that belt,” he told MMA Junkie after the win. “I want Usman. He’s really cool. But I’ve got to work my way to him, and I know that.
“I’m not trying to say, put me in there now. I’ve still got to get better, and he’s a great fighter. One day, I would love to stand across the cage from him, whether he’s holding the belt or not.”
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