MMA Fighter Suffers Nauseating Leg Break During Undercard for Gable Steveson Fight

The final prelim fight for the Gable Steveson headlined-Mexico Fight League 3 card ended with an absolutely stomach-turning injury.

Ahead of this Saturday’s UFC Houston card that will see Anthony Hernandez attempt to secure a middleweight title shot when he takes on the division’s former titleholder Sean Strickland, Thursday saw Olympic Gold Medalist Steveson extend his professional MMA record to 3-0 with another first-round stoppage in the main event of MFL 3 in Monterray, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Steveson’s heavyweight bout with Hugo Lezama closed out a 10-fight card of MMA action, and one of the night’s earlier matchups saw Renzo Aldave step into the cage to make his professional MMA debut opposite Hector Negroe.

Hector Negroe Breaks Leg After Throwing Kick

After making his debut in 2022, Peru’s Aldave closed out a perfect 7-0 amateur career in 2024 when he won the IMMAF heavyweight tournament with a split decision over Nicollas Santos.

It was a year and half after that victory before Aldave stepped into the cage for his professional debut at MFL 3 against Negroe, who was returning to action for the first time in nearly four years. “Dinamita” won his professional debut via third-round TKO in 2021 before he was submitted in the first round of his sophomore outing the following year.

Neither Aldave nor Negroe really got a chance to shake off any ring rust at MFL 3, as their heavyweight clash unfortunately ended in just 57 seconds after “El Cachorrote” checked a leg kick from his opponent and inadvertently broke Negroe’s shin.

Nasty Injury Reminiscent Of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 2

Negroe initially tried to return to his stance and plant on the injured leg before falling to the canvas, and Aldave quickly realized his opponent was done and was able to refrain from diving in with any follow-up punches on the ground.

The gruesome injury will undoubtedly remind longtime MMA fans of the main event for UFC 168, which saw UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva break his leg in similar fashion when he met Chris Weidman in an immediate rematch to try and reclaim the UFC’s middleweight belt.

Anderson Silva (blue gloves) breaks his leg on a kick to Chris Weidman (red gloves). — Anderson Silva (blue gloves) breaks his leg on a kick to Chris Weidman (red gloves) during their UFC middleweight championship bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

In a cruel twist of fate, Weidman also ended up suffering a similar injury in another rematch with Uriah Hall at UFC 261. MMA fans will certainly be hoping that Negroe is able to recover from the injury in the same way Silva and Weidman were, while Aldave is likely left looking ahead to a more definitive victory whenever he steps into the cage for his second professional fight.