Just four months after gruesome injury nearly cost him a finger, Khetag Pliev eyes big-show call at CFFC 99

Khetag Pliev certainly didn’t enter this past April’s CFFC 94 expecting to become a viral sensation, but that’s exactly what happened – and in perhaps the most bizarre fashion ever seen in an MMA event.

In one of the wildest moments in Cage Fury Fighting Championships history, Pliev’s ring finger appeared to have completely severed from his left hand during the second round of a fight with Devin Goodale, and “Lion” was handed a TKO loss before being rushed to the hospital to undergo emergency surgery.

All the while, Pliev was pleading to be allowed to continue fighting – a shocking insistence that stands in stark contrast with how most people likely would have reacted to the moment.

“Where it comes from, I couldn’t say that one, honestly, but maybe from all the years of fighting and training and competing and having to have so many injuries,” Pliev said. “I saw when my finger broke. I didn’t see when it came out completely – and like, the bone came out only after the second round. When the round ended, I didn’t know, but I knew I hurt the finger, but I had to just continue to keep fighting with the injury.

“It’s a fight, and so injury happens, but if I’m able to continue, that’s what I try to do. But yeah, when I did see it, my first reaction was also, ‘Wow, where is my finger?’ I thought I lost a finger and at the same time, a lot of a lot of different emotions, I guess – upset, and pissed that I lost a finger and I’m going to, you know, be without finger.”

Fortunately, the finger was still partially attached and lodged inside his glove, and the emergency surgery to repair the hand was successful. Now just four months later, Pliev is ready to fight again.

“It was a very long process, the rehab I did back in Cincinnati,” Pliev said. “The surgery was done in Philadelphia, the emergency room, but then I did see another doctor in Cincinnati, and thank God, I didn’t need any other additional surgery. I did all the MRI and CT scans and X-rays and everything was good, but I did do a long time of physiotherapy, and it’s good now.”

Pliev also got another bit of good news during his stint in rehab, when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission overturned the result of the bout to a no contest, wiping a rather dubious loss off Pliev’s record when it was determined Goodale had pulled on the glove during the contest, helping to create the tension on the digit that caused the freak injury.

“I don’t care about disqualifying him – it was not a win for me,” Pliev said. “That was not a win for me, but I can tell you one thing: That was not a not a technical knockout because that didn’t happen.

“First round, the judges give to him. In the second one, I got it. So it had to be a no contest, at very minimum. I am satisfied with that decision.”

Pliev (5-1) returns to action at Saturday’s CFFC 99 event, where he takes on veteran middleweight Nah-shon Burrell (17-11) at Fitz Tunica Casino & Hotel in Mississippi. The main-card matchup streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

Pliev had initially hoped for a rematch with Goodale but says he’s even happier to get an opponent with a more established name, with Burrell having previously fought for the UFC, Bellator and Strikeforce, among others.

“He’s more experienced,” Pliev said. “He’s fought in every type of organization, and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s even better. Let’s take the fight because the guy has a better name.’”

With Olympic wrestling credentials and a professional boxing record, as well, Pliev hopes a positive result will earn him a look at the sport’s biggest promotions, but at 37, he also knows his window of competition is closing.

So perhaps another viral moment this time around might do the trick – though Pliev certainly hopes in slightly less bizarre fashion this time around.

“The viral part is in God’s hands again, and we’ll see if it happens,” Pliev said. “But, yeah, my plan is to go in there and get a win in the first round. That’s what I want to do.

“Obviously I want the finish. I don’t want to fight three rounds. But we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.”

(This story first published at CFFC.tv)