Losing for the first time in the UFC was frustrating enough, but John Howard is more upset about how his fight ended last Sunday against Jake Ellenberger.
The ringside doctor stopped the fight 2:21 into the third round because of extensive swelling around Howard’s left eye. Howard concedes that Ellenberger was controlling the fight, but the Dorchester native wanted the chance to knock Ellenberger out in the final two-plus minutes.
“It looked worse, but it wasn’t bad,” Howard said of his eye. “Trust me, I could have kept going. I did not want to stop. With two minutes left in the third round, let me fall on my shield at least. If I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose on my shield. Don’t stop the fight like that. That’s a horrible way to lose.”
The swelling began after Ellenberger landed a number of elbows to Howard’s face in the second round. The doctor checked on Howard (14-5) between the second and third rounds and allowed the fight to continue.
The third round began much like the first two, with Ellenberger taking Howard to the ground. After Ellenberger (23-5) failed to do much, referee Herb Dean stepped in and stood the fighters up.
Dean then called in the doctor to take another look at Howard, whose eye was nearly swollen shut.
“The doctor didn’t even ask me a question,” said Howard, who had won his first four UFC fights. “He just looked and was like, ‘Oh, I think it’s broken. We’re stopping it.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ I was shaking my head and he stopped the fight.”
Despite the appearance, Howard said he didn’t break any bones. He’ll have to serve a mandatory medical fighting suspension of 30-45 days, bu the was back training last week.
The swelling went down considerably in a matter of days. Some might have found it grotesque, but Howard was unfazed.
“I’ve been beat up before so it’s not a big deal,” Howard said. “Getting beat up, I don’t care about that. I come from a place where I used to get beat up every other day so I’m used it. I just get paid for it now.”
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