UFC watchers were stunned last night as they watched Anderson Silva’s leg shatter while throwing a kick.

The anticipated mixed martial arts rematch between former champion and record holder Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman got off to an exciting start, with Weidman dominating early. The fight almost ended in the first round with a massive right punch by Weidman that put Silva in a obvious shock.

In the second round, Silva came back viciously with a number of kick attacks to wear Weidman down. Unfortunately for Silva, Weidman was prepared for these kicks. Yahoo Sports shares Weidman’s statements about those kicks in the post-fight interview:

“We knew that in the last fight he hurt me most with the leg kicks so we trained checking them a lot. The goal is to get your knee up and allow them to make contact with their shin right there. As soon as he hit me with that kick and moved backwards I knew right away.”

As Silva’s kick connected, Weidman apparently checked him so effectively that it ended in Silva’s shin freakishly snapping.

A horrific end to a rematch that was painfully reminiscent to their last meeting– in their last battle, Silva lost to Weidman in a second round knockout.

According to mmafighting.com, Silva’s team released some good news regarding his immediate surgery:

“Following Saturday evening’s UFC 168 main event, former champion Anderson Silva was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg. The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, inserted an intramedullary rod into Anderson’s left tibia. The broken fibula was stabilized and does not require a separate surgery. Anderson will remain in the hospital for a short while, but no additional surgery is scheduled at this time. Recovery time for such injuries may vary between three and six months.”

Silva has not made a decision as to if he’ll return to the ring, but he left a touching message earlier today to Brazil:

Brasil sinto muito não queria ter desapontado vocês dei o meu melhor eu juro

— Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) December 29, 2013

Unfortunate turn of events for a participant in such a rough and tumble sport, but time will tell if we will see him back in the ring.

Image via Youtube