As the fight started I just did not feel like myself, I wasn’t able to get my feet moving and Junior capitalized quickly. As he was pummeling me I kept trying to find a way to defend myself so Herb would not stop the fight. Junior was landing solid shots and that is where probably he broke my nose.
Then skips to the ending:
The end of the fight was pretty much a blur. Junior was a better fighter than I was last night. His boxing was better and he used his boxing to take me out of the fight. I have nothing but respect for Junior and his camp. He deserves the title shot.
Then back to the second round...and back to the third again:
After the second round I knew I was in trouble. My nose made it impossible to breathe, my eyes were full of blood and Junior was still coming at me. When the ref stopped the fight in the third, I thought it was over. When the doctor came in the octagon I knew it was going to be up to me to sell them on letting me continue. I knew I was in deep trouble but I also knew that all I needed was one clean shot. I wanted to keep myself in the fight. I wasn’t able to see but I said I could and we continued.
He went to the hospital after the fight, and spoke with his family and manager. But this is the part that sort of scared me:
I have had a lot of time to reflect on the fight and while I have not seen it and due to the damage I incurred I can’t recall much of the fight.
I suppose that might be commonplace, as I've heard guys like Matt Hughes talk about having memory gaps after head traumas (like when him and Matt Serra clashed heads in the first round of their fight). It's just a bit troubling to read, I guess. The other part that's a bit troubling is that he lied to the doctor. This is not surprising at all, and I personally don't blame him for doing it one bit, but it just shows that maybe the doctor could have handled the situation a lot better. Maybe not. It brings up a lot of questions on both sides though.
The full blog is definitely worth a read, as he addresses some of the criticisms directed towards him pre-fight and how he thinks he overcame some of them. He also understands what he needs to work on though. Hopefully we see him back in the cage soon.
