Photo | Brian Kelleher shows off brutal cut sustained in Ricky Simon fight at UFC 258

UFC veteran Brian Kelleher showed off the brutal cut he sustained on his forehead in his unanimous decision loss to Ricky Simon at UFC 258.

Kelleher moved up to 145lbs for the short-notice fight with Simon for this past weekend’s UFC 258 card. He lost a decision at the end of 15 minutes on the judges’ scorecards, with Simon controlling the majority of the bout with his wrestling. At one point during the match, Kelleher received a nasty cut to the middle of his forehead. It wasn’t bad enough to stop the fight, but it looks like Kelleher needed to get some stitches to fix the cut. Check out the cut photo that Kelleher shared with his followers on his social media.

https://twitter.com/brianboom135/status/1361793219256868868

Scar too deep for a bandaid solution

Kelleher (22-12) has been on the UFC roster since 2017 and he has gone 6-5 so far in the Octagon during that time. The 34-year-old American has notable wins in the UFC over the likes of Iuri Alcantara, Damian Stasiak, Renan Barao, Ode Osbourne, Hunter Azure, and Ray Rodriguez, with five of those wins coming by way of stoppage. His losses in the Octagon came against Simon, Cody Stamann, Montel Jackson, John Lineker, and Marlon Vera. Though his last four fights have been contested at 145lbs, Kelleher has been taking fights on short notice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will likely return to 135lbs.

For his next bout, look for the UFC to match up Kelleher against another veteran fighter coming off of a loss. He could look to fight at his normal bantamweight division when he returns or perhaps Kelleher could consider another short-notice fight up in weight. Knowing “Boom,” don’t expect this cut to keep him on the sidelines for very long.

Who do you want to see Brian Kelleher fight next after he heals up from this cut?