UFC fighter Lauren Murphy was left looking unrecognisable after her fight against Jessica Andrade.
Murphy and Andrade clashed at UFC 283 in Rio on Saturday, but it ended up being a heavily one-sided affair in Andrade’s favour.
GettyLauren Murphy poses ahead of her fight at UFC 283[/caption]
ESPN MMAMurphy endured a “beat down” against Jessica Andrade[/caption]
GettyAndrade left Murphy’s face looking remarkably different to the start[/caption]
The one-time flyweight title challenger was no match for her opponent as Andrade landed 231 significant strikes – a new flyweight record.
In fact, only Nate Diaz has scored more strikes in a three-round UFC fight, registering 238 when he fought Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
And the damage Murphy took during the bout saw her face turn bright red with considerable bruising.
Her night ended via unanimous decision from the judges in favour of Andrade.
Murphy, 39, put in a valiant effort to stay in the fight for the full duration.
Following her beating, she took to Instagram to reveal how much she had enjoyed her time in Brazil and also thanked her corner for not throwing in the towel despite her heavy defeat.
She said: “OK so basically every minute I’ve spent in Rio — besides these 15 right here — has been fantastic.
“The fight was a beat down but not the way I imagined it. Sometimes s*** goes down and you just got to learn from it and get better.
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“Jessica is an insanely tough opponent and I will learn a lot from her. All these experiences — the good ones and bad ones — make me a better athlete and human.
“Thankfully I’m all good, nose is a little busted up and my head needs rest, but I’ll be fine in a few days. I’m glad my corner didn’t stop the fight.
“I thought the ref was going to stop it in the second round but the bell rang before he decided to.
“Either way, I was grateful for the chance to keep fighting. My head and nose will heal with rest, and my heart will heal with time.
“My adult life has been a dream, and sometimes I have to pay for that dream.
“I’ll be back sometime, but for now I’m just going to lick my wounds and rest a bit.”
Other fighters from UFC 283 also suffered similar injuries, with Glover Teixeira showing off a heavily-bandaged face following his light heavyweight clash with Jamahal Hill.
However, Hill himself walked away from the fight with a shocking head injury of his own.