Bellator 158 Saturday night from London’s O2 arena was an exciting card that saw Paul Daley fall to Douglas Lima, and Matt Mitrione bring his record to 2-0 in Bellator MMA with a thrilling back-and-forth battle with Oli Thompson that ended in a solid knockout victory for “Meathead.” Yet the talk of the event was neither of those bouts, but rather the fight between Michael “Venom” Page and Evangelista Santos — a fight that ended with a jump knee to the head by Page, and a horrific skull fracture for Santos.

In the immediate aftermath of the fight, it was clear something was amiss. Santos — long known as one of the toughest guys in the sport — lay on the canvas, face down, as Page celebrated (breaking out a Pokeball in the process), unaware of the severity of his opponent’s injury.

Santos was taken to hospital after the fight, where he remains. On Sunday, his ex, UFC/Invicta fighter Cyborg Justino released the following photos showing the damage caused by the knee:

In a related Instagram post, she expanded, saying

Fight fans Please say a prayer for my Ex husband Cyborg Santos. Many of you watched him fight on Spike TV this weekend when he suffered this injury while fighting in London. Cyborg is still in the hospital in the UK, and they are not sure when he will be able to fly again. He has not had surgery yet and their is worry the brain can continue to swell causing more damage. Click The link In My bio to donate to his #GoFundMe and support him and his family at this time. Thank you God for your protecion, The dr said this very Easily could have been life threatening. Please show your support for the fighters

Clearly, this is one of the most horrific injuries seen in MMA in years, up there with Anderson Silva’s broken leg.

As she noted, Evangelista Santos is unable to fly. Surgery is planned for him in the U.S. once he is able to return home. In the meantime, the GoFundMe page to help support her former husband’s medical costs and living expenses has reached over $17,000 of its $20,000 goal at time of writing.

You can contribute to the effort here: https://www.gofundme.com/CyborgBellatorMMA

Here’s wishing Santos a speedy recovery.

About The Author

Senior Staff Writer

Covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College under the Ontario Management Development Program. When not slaving at the keyboard, he can be found in the company of his dog, a good book, or getting lost in the woods.