Picture: Robbie Lawler, Rory MacDonald Embrace at Hospital After UFC 189 Battle

In the end you find admiration and respect for one another. Thank you @ruthless_rl and @romac_gorilla for the amazing fight! Thank u to all the fans for the support!! #blessed

A photo posted by Firas Zahabi (@firas_zahabi) on Jul 11, 2015 at 9:51pm PDT

The welterweight title clash between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 is being praised as an instant classic. The back-and-forth battle took a serious toll on the combatants, however, as both fighters were transported to the hospital following Lawler’s fifth-round technical knockout victory.

Tristar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi posted a photo of the two welterweights on Instagram, and it appears that amid the bumps and bruises, a bond has been formed.

“In the end you find admiration and respect for one another,” Zahabi wrote.