Alonzo Menifield pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career at UFC 331 and he did it despite competing with a mangled thumb that was injured in the opening round.
Menifield showed off the gruesome injury afterwards and revealed it actually happened in the first round but he refused to stop fighting and ultimately won a split decision with scores reading 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 with two judges giving him the fight and the victory.
The light heavyweights were quick to throw with power to start the fight but neither of them were landing just yet. Baraniewski welcomed Menifield into the pocket as they were unloading huge punches.
Menifield connected with a slick combination but Baraniewski showed no fear as he kept firing back and he hurt his opponent as they battled against the cage. Menifield landed a solid punch but Baraniewski returned fire and connected with the better strikes as the light heavyweights hit the floor.
Baraniewski continued to find a home for his combinations but Menifield was evasive enough to avoid a potential knockdown or knockout.
As round two got started, Menifield marched forward and unloaded a barrage of punches in succession before ending up in the clinch with Baraniewskij, jockeying for position against the cage. After they separated, Baraniewski and Menifield just started trading bombs but they refused to go down despite landing with some seriously heavy leather.
With five minutes remaining, the ringside physician paused the action to check on Menifield’s left thumb, which looked like it was barely connected to the hand. But Menifield insisted that he wanted to keep going so the fight continued despite effectively competing with a broken thumb.
The slugfest continued with both fighters landing at times, although Menifield seemed to do a big more damage as time ticked away to the final horn. Considering he was fighting with an injury that would send most fighters running for the doctor, Menifield somehow found a way to win as he picks up his second win in a row overall and hands Baraniewski the first loss of his professional career.
