Bellator 220 bloodbath leaves Veta Arteaga with split forehead, exposed skull (Pic)

Bellator MMA flyweight champion, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, retained her 125-pound strap by slicing and dicing Veta Arteaga at the Bellator 220 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last Sat. night (April 27, 2019) inside SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Maybe this is what Rory MacDonald meant when he said he didn’t want to hurt people?

The third-round technical knockout finish came after the cageside doctor ruled Arteaga unfit to continue, which is the kind of outcome fans should expect when a bloodied fighter can see her own skull on the Jumbotron.

Here’s another look:

Bellator MMA

And the close up:

Bellator MMA

Gnarly.

“When I landed that elbow, I heard ... it actually sounded like bone cracking,” Macfarlane said after the fight (via MMA Junkie). “But I didn’t even know she was bleeding until we stood up and saw the blood just pouring out.”

Macfarlane improves to 10-0 with the win and has now finished five straight contests. As for Arteaga, the loss snaps a two-fight win streak and drops her to 5-3.

For complete Bellator 220 results and play-by-play click here.