UFC Fight Night 35’s Yoel Romero Broke Derek Brunson’s Jaw, Denied Soiling His Shorts

Rising UFC middleweight Yoel Romero picked up a huge win over Derek Brunson at last night’s UFC Fight Night 35, but it wasn’t without difficulty. Romero lost the first two rounds handily to Brunson, who surprised by taking down the Cuban Olympic silver medalist wrestler three times. Romero also overcame allegedly soiling his pants, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.

A more important issue at hand was the stoppage of the fight, which came in the third round after Romero rocked Brunson with some absolutely huge shots and began teeing off with a torrent of heavy ground and pound. Brunson did precious little to defend himself, and the fight should have been stopped.

However, it was allowed to continue, and that’s where a second officiating indiscretion reared its ugly head. Romero unleashed a brutal series of elbows that appeared to be of the illegal 12-to-6 variety onto Brunson’s body, but again the referee chose not to step in.

And it wasn’t without consequences, as Brunson tweeted that he was headed in for jaw surgery after last night’s war:

Finally headed to get that surgery on my jaw . I’ll message when I’m out #GodSpeed

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) January 16, 2014

It’s impossible to say if an earlier stoppage would have saved Brunson from a broken jaw, but the fact remains that a fighters’ safety was put in danger unnecessarily due to simple negligence in officiating. All told, Romero vs. Brunson turned out to be a very strange bout with a dramatic finish that added to a very solid UFC Fight Night in Georgia. It’s unfortunate that Brunson had to suffer an injury like that because he didn’t have to.

But with striking power like that, Romero is going to be a force at middleweight. He showed a ton of resiliency as a big favorite in desperation mode, gaining the finish that was his only shot at victory. What was your take on the incident-filled bout?

Photo: Joshua S. Kelly for USA TODAY Sports