Jimmie Rivera suffers gruesome cut leading to stoppage against Jeremy Stephens at BKFC 56

Jimmie Rivera will definitely need stitches after suffering a gruesome cut over his eye that led to a stoppage in his fight against fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens at BKFC 56.

After battling to a draw in his BKFC debut, Rivera took a step up in weight class and competition by clashing with Stephens, who was making his first appearance in the bare-knuckle promotion. While Rivera held his own early, Stephens definitely showcased his size and power while bulling the former bantamweight around the ring.

Stephens scored the only knockdown after blasting Rivera with a huge uppercut that put him down on the canvas momentarily, but the New Jersey native managed to beat the 10 count to get back to his feet.

Once he was standing again, Rivera was blinking from the massive cut that opened over his eye from the punch delivered by Stephens. The gash sliced right across Rivera’s eyebrow, which gave him little chance to continue if the round ended.

While the cutman did everything possible to stop the bleeding, the ringside physician only had to take a brief look at Rivera and the massive cut to know that the fight shouldn’t continue. With that, the bout was stopped and Stephens was declared the winner by TKO.

Stephens previously stated that he planned to put more focus on his bare-knuckle career after inking a deal to join the BKFC roster, and it certainly appears he was built for the sport following his win on Saturday night.