MMA fighter Khetag Pliev loses finger during bout

Former Olympic wrestler lost the contest via ‘TKO (detached finger)’

Khetag Pliev weighs in ahead of the bout in which he had his finger torn off (cffcmma via Instagram)

Professional MMA fighter Khetag Pliev had his finger torn off in a bout on Thursday night, officially losing the contest via ‘TKO (detached finger)’.

Former Olympic freestyle wrestler Pliev suffered the injury early in his Cage Fury Fighting Championships co-main event against Devin Goodale in Philadelphia.

The fight at CFFC 94 aired live on the UFC’s Fight Pass streaming platform and was stopped in the second round after the referee realised Pliev’s left ring finger had detached from his hand. MMA stats and news website Sherdog recorded the method of victory as ‘detached finger’.

Four-time national wrestling champion Pliev, who represented Canada at the 2012 Olympics, had the digit reattached at a local hospital later in the evening, ESPN confirmed.

“They just made a PA announcement at #CFFC94 that they are trying to locate a fighter’s missing finger,” TSN reporter Aaron Bronsteter tweeted. “It evidently fell off into his glove during the bout and is missing somewhere in the venue.”

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Goodale said in his post-fight interview: “I can’t remember anything, I don’t know.

“I got hit by something big, I don’t remember what happened. I’m just being honest. I don’t remember what happened. I’ll have to watch the tape myself, I don’t remember anything.”

Former WWE wrestler CM Punk, who fought twice in the UFC, who was working as a commentator at the event, and said after the bout: “I don’t understand exactly what happened.

“We’re not going to replay it for you, ladies and gentlemen, but it wasn’t a compound fracture. It wasn’t a dislocation, a break, a laceration. His finger was just gone. It’s gone. It fell off, ripped off.”

The result saw Pliev, 37, fall to 5-2 as a pro, while 28-year-old Goodale improved his record to 4-0.