After the uppercut, Riley was opening and closing his mouth a lot and announcer Joe Rogan made note of it a few times. Ferguson poured it on and battered Riley for the rest of the round, but the horn went. Riley went back to his corner and announced to his team that his jaw was broken, and the fight was stopped. The bout was the fifth and final fight on the preliminary portion of the UFC 135 broadcast, and was shown live on Spike TV.
What was the high spot of this fight?
Either the brutal uppercut that broke his jaw, or the moment when Riley went back to his corner and announced that his jaw was broken and his cornerman swore quite loudly in response.
Where do these guys go from here?
Ferguson obviously has a lot of momentum with the TUF 13 win and now a stoppage of a solid veteran. It will take a lot more than this to fully establish his value with avid fans though, considering he likely won the weakest TUF season ever, and Riley has had jaw issues in the past. The UFC will likely try to bring him along slowly, so he'll probably face another fading veteran again in his next bout.
Riley might want to consider retirement. This is the second time he's suffered a broken jaw in a UFC fight, and was recently on the shelf for a long time with other injuries. He's only 30 but he has a ton of mileage on his body after 44 fights in 14 years, most of which were standup battles. If he doesn't retire, he'll probably get another bout in the UFC but it definitely won't be for a while.
Watch it now, later, or never?
Now. Ferguson looked really good for the second half of the round and the uppercut that broke Riley's jaw was brutal. It's a bit rough watching Riley take all those shots with a broken jaw though, so if you're a bit squeamish you might want to skip it.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/7/2350504/mma/fight-card/74507/ufc-133-evans-vs-ortiz
More BE coverage of UFC 135 in the full entry.
UFC 135 Results: Time to Embrace Underutilized Lighter Weight Classes - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Will Rashad Evans Spoil the Jon Jones Era? - Fraser Coffeen
UFC 135 Results: Dana White Expects Matt Hughes to Retire - Mike Fagan
UFC 135 Results: Two Heavyweight Fights On PPV A Big Mistake - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Says Rashad Evans Doesn't Have His Number - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva Isn't Happening - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson Post-Fight Recap and Analysis - Mike Fagan
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage Results - Event Doesn't Provide Enough Bang for the Buck - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson Fight Video Highlights - Anton Tabuena
UFC 135 Results: Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck Fight Video Highlights - Anton Tabuena
UFC 135 Post-Fight Press Conference Coverage - Tim Burke
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Limping Backstage After Dominating Rampage Jackson - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Forces Rampage Jackson to Tap Out - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Main Card - Bloody Elbow
UFC 135 Results: Josh Koscheck Knocks Out Matt Hughes, Doesn't Retire Him - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Mark Hunt Picks Up A Decision In A Grueling Fight - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Travis Browne Defeats Rob Broughton by Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Nate Diaz Forces Takanori Gomi to Tap By Armbar - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Tony Ferguson Breaks Aaron Riley's Jaw In The First - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Spike TV Prelims - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Tim Boetsch Gives Nick Ring His First Career Loss - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Junior Assuncao Fails to Impress with Win Over Eddie Yagin - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Facebook Prelims - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Takeya Mizugaki Ends Cole Escovedo With A Knockout - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: James Te Huna Ends Ricardo Romero's Night By KO - Matthew Roth