GRAPHIC: Matt Van Buren Sustains Brutal Broken Jaw in Training, Out of WBKFF 1 in November

If graphic in the title wasn’t enough, this will be your final warning.

Matt Van Buren, former TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) finalist has sustained a brutal broken jaw while training for what was his up-and-coming WBKFF (World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation) debut. Originally set to square off with his former training partner, Joey Beltran, which was announced earlier this week, Buren will be forced to sit out, in hopes of a February return.

First announced on his personal Facebook profile, Van Buren says:

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here now. I was sparring Tuesday night. Nothing really out of the ordinary. I got hit with a shot in my lower jaw. It fractured the mandibular right between the bottom two teeth. I’ve been hit that hard a million times in training. Not sure if there was already a stress fracture there or I wasn’t biting down enough. Doc said he caught it just right and it is an unusual place to fracture the lower jaw. I will be out of my fight Nov. 9th @worldbkff . I should be fully healed in about 6 weeks. A plate was inserted to tie my lower jaw together so my mouth isn’t wired shut, which is awesome. It should be a little stronger now too. I will be looking to return to @worldbkff for their second show in Feb. I’m extremely disappointed I won’t be able to participate in their first event. Thanks for the support and I’ll be back to out on a show in Feb.”

Following surgery, Van Buren tells Adam LeBarr:

“Isn’t that some shit? I get knocked out cold a few times in 4oz gloves and I’m fine. Wearing head gear, mouthpiece and got hit with a 16oz glove and broke my jaw. Go figure.”

‘Gutter’ shared a video of his injury before surgery, which put a plate in place to hold his jaw together.

Shown above, you can clearly see the break in the mandibular jaw (lower jaw) as his teeth separate. This x-ray, also provided by Van Buren shows the fracture, which doctors suggest started off as a small stress fracture sustained at an earlier date.