UFC 315 began with a literal banger, as Bekzat Almakhan knocked out Brad Katona in the first round in their early prelims card opener. But just when the excitement around the Montreal event began to skyrocket, the fighting community was hit with a moment of concern. The final bout in the early prelims for UFC 315 marked Marc-Andre Barriault’s flawless and brutal victory over Bruno Silva. The Canadian knocked out Silva in just a minute and 27 seconds into the fight. But the KO gave no reason for the fans to celebrate Barriault’s victory. 

During the heat of the moment, a few of Barriault’s strikes caught Silva on his temple. Being a pressure point with the temporal veins popping up, getting a hit on the temple is often considered a dangerous deed. And that’s what happened in the third bout of UFC 315. Following the KO defeat, the Brazilian had to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher.

Needless to say, watching a fighter who took Alex Pereira to a decision and then lost 7 of his last 8 fights wasn’t something that greatly impressed the fighting realm. Moreover, Silva was never knocked out in his MMA career before this infamous bout. It just shows how everything can change in one night! Naturally, the MMA world could not stop worrying.

Weighing in on that, even the Canadian fighter expressed his concerns regarding his opponent’s health. ‘Powerbar’ said, “I’m speechless right now. I hope Bruno’s going to be fine. It was my time tonight. I’ve been unlucky in my last couple of fights, but I think I showed tonight I belong in the UFC. Everything was on the line for me. I just trusted my instincts. Here I am right now.”

Soon, the visuals were uploaded on social media platforms, and Spinning Backfist was one of the many media houses that shared the visuals on X. The caption to the post read, “Scary stuff. Bruno Silva leaves the octagon in a stretcher, hope he’s good.” But do you know what the fighting community had to say about it? Let’s find out! 

Fans express concern as Bruno Silva stays down after Marc-Andre Barriault KOed him at UFC 315

Most of the fight fans wasted no time and started praying for the Brazilian middleweight fighter. One fan wrote, “Prayers up for Bruno. That knockout didn’t even look brutal, and still crashed him like that.” Another fan commented, “Hope he’s good, man. This job is brutal.” Of course, this was likely the first time many people saw a fighter being taken out on a stretcher. One fan weighed in on that and commented, “I hope he’s ok. I don’t think I’ve seen that in all the years I’ve been watching UFC.”

Some of the fans believed that it was a career-ending KO. You see, getting damage in the temple often bursts open the superficial temporal veins. And that definitely has the potential to end one’s career. One of the fans claimed, “What a spiral end of a UFC career for him. To be forever known as the guy Weidman won via eye poke, then to go out on a stretcher is harsh. MMA is not for the weak-willed.”

Another fan wrote, “That’s awful, and it was his first time being ko’d to my knowledge. That’s career-ending.” The retirement talks were pretty high with fans claiming, “Elbow to the temple after already taken so much damage throughout his career, he needs to retire.”

Meanwhile, a few fans believed, “He dented his skull.” Such hits do tend to leave marks on the fighters’ bodies. No wonder the world was worrying about Bruno Silva. One fan added, “Looks like his skull caved in a bit on that second HEAVY elbow.. Hope Silva is okay, man, that’s some scary stuff.”

What are your thoughts on Barriault’s KO win over Silva? Do you think the UFC should make some rules to prevent hits to the temple in the future? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.