Boston Salmon Shares Recovery Photo After Suffering Broken Orbital at LFA 84

Devastating illegal knee results in a DQ. #LFA84 pic.twitter.com/3e31byKzUV

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 11, 2020

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Boston Salmon earned a disqualification victory over Shawn West at Legacy Fighting Alliance 84, but it came with a hefty price.

The two-time UFC veteran was dropped by a punch from his opponent before West charged forward and knocked Salmon unconscious with an illegal knee 53 seconds into Round 2 of their July 10 clash at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

According to Salmon’s management, the featherweight fighter suffered a broken orbital and cheekbone as a result of the foul. Suckerpunch Entertainment founder Brian Butler released a statement on the situation Tuesday:

The incident that took place in LFA on July 10th was extremely unfortunate. We believe Boston is a special talent and is able to compete with the best in the world. His [stint] in the UFC did not go as planned because it was determined by physicians that the weight cut to bantamweight was too extreme for him to be able to perform to his ability. We were extremely excited to restart Boston’s run at featherweight with [LFA] and get him back to a big show. Boston was in control of this fight and just settling into his range and timing in the [second] round when both he and his opponent, Shawn West, landed simultaneous hooks causing both to be flashed and knocked down. As Boston was getting back to his feet he was hit with an illegal knee that ended the night.

What we have to focus on here first and foremost is Boston‘s health. The knee landed with incredible force and caused Boston to suffer a broken orbital and cheek bone. Aside from the DQ we feel there should be disciplinary actions enforced by the commision to set a higher precedence on these types of fouls. There was no question about the legality of the knee and Boston was awarded the win at the end of the contest. It goes without saying that this is not the way Boston wanted the fight to be determined. As a team we are sitting down with Boston and his family to discuss what we want to do moving forward. Boston would like to thank LFA and their staff for getting him back on stage and giving him the opportunity to perform. For now Boston is going to undergo further examination and we will determine the next steps as we go.

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UPDATE: The incident that took place in LFA on July 10th was extremely unfortunate. We believe Boston is a special talent and is able to compete with the best in the world. His stent in the UFC did not go as planned because it was determined by physicians that the weight cut to bantamweight was too extreme for him to be able to perform to his ability. We were extremely excited to restart Boston’s run at featherweight with @lfafighting and get him back to a big show. Boston was in control of this fight and just settling into his range and timing in the 2nd round when both he and his opponent, Shawn West, landed simultaneous hooks causing both to be flashed and knocked down. As Boston was getting back to his feet he was hit with an illegal knee that ended the night. What we have to focus on here first and foremost is Boston‘s health. The knee landed with incredible force and caused Boston to suffer a broken orbital and cheek bone. Aside from the DQ we feel there should be disciplinary actions enforced by the commision to set a higher precedence on these types of fouls. There was no question about the legality of the knee and Boston was awarded the win at the end of the contest. It goes without saying that this is not the way Boston wanted the fight to be determined. As a team we are sitting down with Boston and his family to discuss what we want to do moving forward. Boston would like to thank LFA and their staff for getting him back on stage and giving him the opportunity to perform. For now Boston is going to undergo further examination and we will determine the next steps as we go. #bossteam

A post shared by Brian Butler-Au (@suckerpunchent) on Jul 21, 2020 at 12:37pm PDT

Salmon, who earned a UFC contract on Season 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, exited the Las Vegas-based promotion following back-to-back bantamweight TKO losses to Khalid Taha and Randy Costa. Salmon released a separate statement on his Instagram account and seemed to be in relatively good spirits.

“First, thank you to everyone who took the time to reach out to me and the ones close to me concerning my health. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm ok and taking the necessary time to heal up and focus on my health most importantly,” Salmon wrote.

“A lot of you were scared and concerned, and so was I. I can assure you that I'm ok and will be back from this. Smile, be happy, tell the ones you care about you love them. Sending positive vibes to everyone who supports this journey.”