A journey that began more than seventeen years ago finally came to an end. Tearful and emotional, 40-year-old Edson Barboza bid goodbye to the sport that made him a familiar name in the community. The only issue with this departure was that it didn’t end the way he might have wished.

Fighting Esteban Ribovics, a decade younger than him, on the main card of UFC 330, headlined by Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry Machado, the Brazilian suffered a knockout loss. That the bout extended halfway into the second round itself was surprising, given the deep cut Barboza suffered. The footage of Junior sitting on the stool, nursing a cut on his leg, left everyone, including the commentators Joe Rogan, Jon Anik, and Daniel Cormier, bewildered.

“A giant cut on the leg of Edson Barboza 😳,” the UFC on Paramount+ X post read, featuring twenty seconds of footage of the injury following the first round.

With Barboza sitting on the stool, his corner tended to his face, wiping the blood and sweat that followed a grueling exchange in the first round. What caught everyone’s attention, however, was the bleeding cut on top of his right shin.

“He’s got a giant cut on the top of his foot. It might be broken,” Joe Rogan was heard saying. He soon added, “Yeah, the soft end of his foot. That’s what it is.”

Cormier followed, saying, “You can stop the fight. You can stop the fight here.”

As it turned out, there was no need for that to happen. Unleashing a barrage of punches after pushing Barboza to the fence, the Argentine lightweight forced referee Herb Dean to quickly intervene and wave off the fight.