MMA fighter loses ring finger, but does not stop

Khetag Pliev, a Russian professional boxer, freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist of Ossetian descent (he currently competes for Canada), lost his finger during the fight and found it only after the fight ended. 

The fight was broadcast on UFC TV channel. Pliev had his finger severed in the second round of the fight at the tournament held under the auspices of the Cage Fury Fighting Championship in Philadelphia. Interestingly, it was the referee, but not the athlete, who noticed that Pliev lacked the ring finger on his left hand. The referee immediately suspended the fight. 

Officials started looking for the severed finger, but could not find it. It remains unclear how the athlete lost the finger. 

When the fight ended (the fight ended with Pliev's rival, Devin Goodale, winning it), the finger was found - it turned out to be in the athlete's glove. 

“In the second round, he caught my hand with one hand and was holding it,” Pliev said. “I felt my finger snap. He continued to pull on my glove and my finger snapped again. We continued to fight. When the second round ended, I saw that my [bone] was exposed. I wanted to continue fighting, but the doctor saw my hand and stopped the fight." 

According to Pliev, he initially thought he had dislocated his finger.

Pliev later said that doctors reattached his finger to the hand. The fighter severed 50 percent of the tendon in his finger, so he may have to require another surgery.

Khetag Pliev also said that he would appeal the result of the fight at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission due to Goodale's illegal capture of his gloves during the fight.

• Khetag Pliev, the 36-year-old fighter was born in 1984 in the North Ossetian city of Alagir. At an early age, he moved to the United States with his parents and moved to Canada afterwards. 
• When performing for the Canadian freestyle wrestling team, he became a three-time winner of the Pan American Championship and a bronze medalist of the Pan American Games. He competed for the Canadian national team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where he finished tenth. Pliev also participated in the World Wrestling Championship three times.
• In 2017 he made his professional boxing debut. In total, Pliev had had six fights and five victories (2 - by knockout). Pliev later moved to MMA. His defeat to Goodale was his first one in six fights.