Tyrone Spong shatters shin at GLORY 15

 

Tyrone Spong suffered a gruesome leg injury in the main event of Saturday\’s GLORY 15 event in Istanbul, Turkey.

In a scene reminiscent of Anderson Silva\’s devastating leg break at UFC 168, Spong fell to the canvas in pain after throwing a right leg kick in the first round of his light heavyweight tournament final against Gohkan Saki. The fight was immediately stopped and Saki was declared the winner and new GLORY light heavyweight champion.

According to Glenn Robinson, Spong\’s manager, the 28-year-old suffered a shattered shin that was not a clean break. Robinson also said Spong was “flying home right away” to Florida to undergo emergency surgery.

Saki checked the leg kick as it connected with his left knee. Spong immediately fell to the canvas and couldn\’t move his right leg, while Saki embraced Spong until his corner entered the ring.

Spong (74-7-1, 1 NC) defeated Saulo Cavalari via unanimous decision earlier in the night to advance to the finals, while Saki beat Nathan Corbet via first-round TKO. This was Saki\’s second win against Spong, as he also knocked out the Surinamese-Dutch fighter at K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Japan.

Spong said on Monday\’s episode of “The MMA Hour” that he planned on returning to World Series of MMA this summer and to make his boxing debut later this year, as well. Those plans have obviously changed after Saturday\’s injury.

Main card:
Tournament Final: Gokhan Saki def Tyrone Spong via knockout (injured leg) Rd1 1:37 Saki now GLORY LHW Champion
Robin Van Roosmalen def Marat Grigorian via unanimous decision (29-28,28-29,30-27)
Danyo Ilunga def Andrei Stoica via KO RD 1 2:33
Gokhan Saki def Nathan Corbet via TKO RD1 2:35
Tyrone Spong def Saulo Cavalari via unanimous decision (29-28,29-28,30-27)

GLORY Superfight Series:
Hedsy Gerges def Jhnota via TKO Rd 2
Mourad Bouzidi def Randy Blake via unanimous decision (30-25,30-25,30-25)
Filip Verlinden def Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision (30-27,30-27, 30-27)
Jonatan Oliveira def Atakan Arslan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27,29-28)

Niclas Larsen def Steve Moxon via TKO Rd2 1:33

Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai def Raz Sarkisjan via split decision (29-27,29-27,28-28)