Diana Belbita avoids broken arm after ugly submission loss, torn ligament possible

Diana Belbita can breathe a slight sigh of relief after her latest fight.

The Romanian-Canadian strawweight was on the wrong end of a nasty armbar submission Saturday at UFC Vegas 58 as she was forced to tap out with seconds remaining in the opening round of her preliminary fight with Molly McCann. Unfortunately for Belbita, she couldn’t tap fast enough, as her arm could be seen popping as the bout came to a close.

Afterward, Belbita confirmed a report from Sportsnet that her arm was not broken, though she left open the possibility that she may have suffered a ligament tear.

“No broken bone,” Belbita wrote. “I have to do an MRI as soon as I get back into Canada. It feels like a torn ligament.”

Should there be a tear in Belbita’s arm, it will likely keep her on the shelf for a good portion of 2024.

Belbita was fighting McCann for the second time after dropping a decision to the Englishwoman in an October 2019 flyweight bout. With the loss, Belbita sees her UFC record drop to 2-5.