Josh Culibao says it took him almost a month to recover from brutal kick to the groin at UFC Perth
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Josh Culibao was one of the biggest stars to come out of UFC 284 in Perth.
He took on Armenian MMA star Melsik Baghdasaryan on the preliminary card and had to overcome some serious adversity to secure the win.
In the opening round he not only copped a headbutt, but one strike, in particular, had even viewers grimacing.
Tempers flared before the fight between the two fighters at the faceoffs, and those tensions were only exasperated when Baghdasaryan drilled Culibao in the groin with a spinning back kick.
The Australian was clearly injured as he tried to regain his composure and more importantly check his manhood was intact.
It was a tough blow to watch back on the replay, and fans would’ve forgiven Culibao for calling the fight off - although, we all knew he wouldn’t.
The doctors decided he was okay to continue, to the delight of the Perth crowd.
The featherweight star spoke to SPORTbible Daily podcast about the agonising moment.
He said: “My first thought in my head was ‘are they still there?’
“The amount of pain I was in, when you get hit there you feel sick in the guts and you can’t quite rest.
“I honestly felt like they were at my throat, they were stuck in my throat. I felt sick.”
The 28-year-old admitted that even a few weeks later he was still suffering from the, ahem, tenderness in that area.
He continued: “It’s been one month since the fight, and only last week I can shower without having to worry about the pressure of the showerhead being a bit tender down there. It was tender.
“I had an outline of the bruising of the cup. That’s how hard he kicked me there, that’s how bad it was.”
Definitely do not envy that.
Despite the pain of the first round, Culibao managed to turn things around in round two of the fight.
JOSH CULIBAO HAS NO QUIT 😤@CulibaoMMA taps Baghdasaryan after dealing with adversity in Round 1! #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/bbDsfTO732
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
The young Aussie managed to grab the left foot of his opponent, dumping him to the canvas, and in one fluid motion pounced on his back.
Culibao caught Baghdasaryan in a read naked choke and just moments later, the Armenian tapped.
A thrilling win for an exciting prospect in the featherweight division.
