Devin Clark explains mindset needed to fight through brutal teeth injury against Ion Cutelaba

UFC light heavyweight fighter Devin Clark explained the mindset he needed to fight through his brutal teeth injury against Ion Cutelaba.

Clark fought Cutelaba last month and suffered a horrendous injury when his teeth were smashed from a vicious knee. Despite his teeth being broken, Clark decided to continue fighting and toughed it out, going the distance and even winning the last round on two of the judges’ scorecards. While Clark lost the unanimous decision to Cutelaba, he gained the respect of the fans by battling through one of the nastiest teeth injuries we’ve ever seen.

Clark’s corner, which had his dad David in it, was criticized following the fight for not stopping the contest, but as far as Clark goes, they made the right call. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Clark credits his father for giving him the motivation to stay in the fight.

“I think it did make it easier,” Clark said of having his father in his corner. “At first, he didn’t know what had happened because I wasn’t facing him. Right away in the clip you see him like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ but at that point he didn’t see that my teeth were messed up. Once he did, he didn’t know what to do either. If you’re good, you’re good. From a young age he always told us—me and my brother—during football games or whatever, he would always say, ‘Are you hurt or are you injured?’ I think it just clicked in my head as one of those deals. Well, I’m hurt, but I can still fight. So I kept going,” continued Clark. “I think it did help to have him there and just his tone and hearing that my whole life, I think it definitely helped.”

What do you think is next for Devin Clark after getting his teeth broken by Ion Cutelaba?