It was a rough night at the office for Jordan
Williams at
UFC on ESPN 16.
Not only did the Dana White’s Contender Series alum drop a
unanimous decision to Nassourdine
Imavov in their preliminary middleweight bout, but he also
suffered mutlple injuries in a contest that featured two headbutts
and an accidental groin strike.
The first headbutt seemed to affect Imavov more than Williams, but
the 25-year-old Frenchman was able to recover and pull away for a
victory down the stretch. In additions to injuries suffered as a
result of the fight, Williams also revealed that he entered the
contest with a pre-existing neck ailment.
“Just got back from the hospital and the verdict is a broken nose,
multiple fractures,” Williams said in a post-fight statement on
Instagram. “I have a broken orbital bone from that illegal head
butt — the second illegal head butt. This [cut on my head] is from
the first illegal head butt. And, apparently, I broke my neck in
the last fight. I have a crack in my C-3 vertebrae.
“But you know, that’s the fight game and we came to fight. That’s
the beauty of the fight game, baby.”
Williams, a three-time Contender series competitor, earned a
contract thanks to a first-round KO of Gregory
Rodrigues on Sept. 15, the bout where he says he suffered the
vertebrae injury. The 29-year-old Californian is 9-4 with one no
contest over the course of his professional tenure.