Summary
Carlos Leal celebrates victory in the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC
Carlos Leal He seems to have a habit of ignoring injuries whenever he enters the UFC octagon. The Brazilian had a great performance at UFC Houston, held last Saturday (21), and managed to erase the image left after being knocked out by muslim salikhov, in a duel in which, according to 'The Lion' himself, he competed with a fractured face.
In an exclusive interview with SUPER LUTAS, the athlete revealed that he suffered the injury about ten days before the fight, but chose not to withdraw from the card to avoid harming the event. After consulting several specialists, he received unanimous advice not to fight, as a blow to the area could worsen the fracture, dislocate the bone, and even compromise his vision, risking premature retirement. Even so, he decided to continue participating because he believed that the personal reasons outweighed the danger involved.
See too
“There are things I haven’t told anyone, so they wouldn’t think it was an excuse. Ten days before the fight, I broke my face, I had a fracture, and I didn’t want to withdraw from the fight so as not to jeopardize the event at the last minute. I spoke with the doctors, all the doctors I spoke to, I went to several specialists, they all said I shouldn’t fight, because if I took a punch here, it could shatter the bone, it could go up and puncture my eye, I could retire. But I had my reasons for going to fight, reasons that I believed were worthwhile for me, even with that risk,” he said. Carlos Leal.
Leal also explained that he hid the problem from practically the entire team, only informing the coach and the manager about the fracture diagnosed by tomography. The condition forced him to completely change the strategy planned to face the Russian, adopting an all-or-nothing approach in search of a quick finish. However, his opponent was more precise and managed to land the decisive blow first, taking advantage of the Brazilian's aggressive stance.
See too
“We didn’t tell anyone except our manager and training partners. They didn’t know I was going to fight injured; only my coach knew. I told them not to tell anyone about the CT scan and I went to the fight. But what happened? I had to completely change the strategy I was going to use against Salikhov. I went for broke. But he was more astute, and I don’t take the credit away from him because he was cunning and managed to land a punch first. But I was careless and too eager. Not to disrespect him, but I was sure I had to win that fight with one punch,” continued 'The Lion'.
The fighter took full responsibility for choosing to compete while injured, emphasizing that he wasn't obligated to enter the cage but decided to take the risk of his own volition. Despite paying the price with the defeat, he acknowledged that the decision also provided important lessons for his journey in the UFC.
“I take full responsibility for what I did. I wasn't obligated; I went because I wanted to. I had my reasons, I went, and I ended up paying the price. But if I had won, I know that the message I could have conveyed would have been different as well. So it was a risk I was willing to take, and I learned a lot from it too,” admitted the 'Christian loan shark'.
Carlos Leal reveals he was also injured at UFC Houston.
For the most recent fight, against Chidi NjōkuaniAt UFC Houston, the scenario repeated itself. During the final sparring session, held on the Friday before the trip, Carlos Leal He suffered a cut on his eyebrow after a head collision. With no time to stitch it up before boarding, the team opted to glue the wound, even keeping the hairs in the area to prevent the injury from being visible. According to him, this type of situation is a direct consequence of the intensity of the training, always carried out at a fighting level.
“Even for this fight now, I ended up going in with a cut here on my eyebrow that couldn't be stitched. I had to glue it back together, and then it didn't show… It was on Friday, during the last sparring session, I ended up hitting it here, a head clash, it cut, and I couldn't stitch it because I was traveling on Saturday. We glued it back together and didn't even remove the eyebrow hair so it wouldn't show. So, because I'm always trying to train at a high level, imagining that I'm fighting, and we end up getting hurt sometimes,” he concluded. Carlos Leal.
You need login To comment.