Alonzo Menifield entered as a noticeable underdog against knockout machine Iwo Baraniewski on the UFC 331 main card. But he managed to pull off a split decision win at the Crypto.com Arena, handing the Polish fighter the first loss of his career. Menifield’s performance turned even more impressive because he fought through a gnarly injury, though not everyone was on board with the Texas-based fighter’s victory.

Both light heavyweights started the fight cautiously, wary of each other’s power. They really began opening up in the second round, however, swinging big punches. Baraniewski tagged Menifield a couple of times but couldn’t put him away. The 38-year-old started turning the tide when he returned fire, rocking the Warsaw native with his own shots.

In the third round, the camera panned to Menifield’s bloodied gloves, and Joe Rogan spotted his broken thumb from the commentary booth. The doctors came in to check whether the light heavyweight’s hand was okay, and after they gave the green light, the fight resumed. Menifield successfully went the distance, with the judges raising his hand in a razor-close split decision.

During the Octagon interview, Joe Rogan showed the crowd that a bone was sticking out of Menifield’s thumb. It was revealed later that he had broken the thumb in the first round itself. The California State Athletic Commission’s medical suspension list will show how many days he must sit out, but given how bad the wound looks, the light heavyweight is likely facing a lengthy layoff.

This appears to be the first time ‘Atomic’ has suffered an in-fight injury like this, though other fighters have been through similar injuries before him. 

Most notably, Alexander Volkanovski broke his thumb in his trilogy fight with Max Holloway at UFC 276, though that injury was nowhere near as gruesome. Even before that, Jon Jones snapped his toe against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, with the bone protruding out of the bloody wound, and he realized it after finishing Sonnen in the first round.  

Though Menifield showed a warrior’s heart by fighting through a bloody injury and winning the fight, many fans weren’t happy with the judges’ decision.

Fans react to Alonzo Menifield’s UFC 331 victory with robbery claims  

One fan complimented Menifield on his win, writing, “One bone sticking out of his thumb & he was hitting 😅😅 that kid DIFFERENT. Move him up an extra spot in rankings just for that s—t.” Another fan called out Joe Rogan for showing the gruesome injury to the public, writing, “F—ing Joe Rogan did not need to show me and everyone else.”

The UFC color commentator bringing the camera close to Menifield’s injury definitely made some fans uncomfortable, and one of them wrote, “His bone is showing oh nahhh.” 

A large section of fans gave Menifield props for fighting through a major injury. Soon, though, scrutiny of the win began, with many believing the judges had robbed the Pole of a deserved victory. One fan wrote, “Bullst robbery can’t believe the judges got it so wrong.” Another said, “There is literally no way he wins that in a million years.” A third felt the fight was rigged, writing, “That is some rigged a s—t 😂.” 

The fight was actually much closer than those comments suggest. Overall, Menifield landed 62 significant strikes to Iwo Baraniewski’s 67, with the Polish having the edge. But, going round by round, the Polish fighter took the first round because of the takedown he landed.

However, the second round was extremely close, with the Texas-based fighter landing 34 strikes to his opponent’s 33. The last round went clearly to Menifield for his successful takedown. In that case, the second round was the point of contention between the judges, and it could have gone either way, so the split decision seems fair.

Outside this fight, Menifield’s split decision win over Julius Walker last year in February was also a close affair. Even so, a fan believed that even the 38-year-old was stunned by his decision win, writing, “Even Alonzo was like WTF…what a bunch of bulls**t.”

Fans clearly had a variety of reactions to the UFC 331 main card opener, with plenty of disagreement over the result. Still, the bout delivered a thrilling 15 minutes of action.