A UFC match looked like a horror film after an elbow strike to the ear caused an eruption of blood

• A pool of blood disguised MMA fighter Andreas Michailidis's ear at a UFC event Saturday.
• Rinat Fakhretdinov caused the injury with a nasty third-round elbow strike.

LAS VEGAS — A UFC match looked like a horror film when Rinat Fakhretdinov's elbow strike to his opponent's ear caused an eruption of blood that splattered everywhere.

Welterweight fighters Fakhretdinov and Andreas Michailidis competed in the second fight during the ESPN+ preliminary section of Saturday's 14-bout UFC card at the Apex in Las Vegas.

Fakhretdinov landed 106 of his 130 strikes for an extraordinary 81% accuracy rate and succeeded with five of his 10 takedown attempts while limiting Michailidis to 48 landed strikes.

Russian fighter Fakhretdinov, nicknamed Gladiator, was so dominant that Octagonside judges awarded him scores of 30-27 and 30-26 (twice).

A third-round elbow strike to the ear was so sharp it sliced Michailidis open, and led to blood pouring rapidly from the laceration, splattering his face, shoulder, and even the canvas.

Michailidis overcame the shot to get the fight back to a stand-up position, but ultimately lost a 10-8 round according to two judges, and relinquished the match to Fakhretdinov.

Prior to Saturday, Fakhretdinov had competed for regional fight firms like UAE Warriors and Gorilla Fighting Championships.

The fight against Michailidis was Fakhretdinov's first in the UFC, and the victory advanced his pro MMA record to 19 wins (11 knockouts, five submissions, and three decisions) against one defeat.

Heavyweight fighters Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik headlined the UFC Fight Night event.