"I believe everyone last night was trying their best" - Megan Olivi comes clean on UFC's official on-air assessment of Alexandre Pantoja's injury

Megan Olivi (pictured) at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]
Megan Olivi (pictured) at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]

The official Alexandre Pantoja UFC 323 injury diagnosis has led the fandom to call out the promotion's medical team and Megan Olivi, who first reported it. The veteran sportscaster has now issued an honest response.

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For context, Pantoja appeared to injure his elbow after he tripped and fell following a head kick attempt on Joshua Van in their co-main event bout. The fight was immediately stopped, and Van was granted a TKO win by default.

Interestingly, during the post-show, Olivi reported the official diagnosis by the medical team, which stated the fighter had suffered a left shoulder dislocation with spontaneous reduction, meaning Pantoja's shoulder popped out of the socket but then slipped back into place without needing manual intervention.

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The diagnosis had the MMA world puzzled, with commentator Joe Rogan even double-checking with Olivi on air, and fans launching a social media crusade slamming the UFC medical team.

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Soon after, the roving reporter triple-checked and confirmed it was indeed an issue with the shoulder. Interestingly, Pantoja's team has since disputed the diagnosis, insisting it was actually an elbow injury.

Now, after fellow journalist Aaron Bronsteter defended her amid the revelation and the resulting backlash, she has once again cleared the air, writing:

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"As a broadcast reporter, the No.1 rule is to never speculate or give opinions on things like injuries. It is my job to tell you and my broadcast partners who, in what role, gave us the info."

Olivi added:

"I’m not a qualified medical professional to assess what damage I may think has been incurred. We followed our communication protocol, double checked we heard correctly, and relayed the info before we went live. Because of the reaction after, I did re-confirm again... I believe everyone last night was trying their best. But it is not my position to comment or give my opinion - it’s to present as much official info as I can to you and the guys at the octagon."
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Check out Megan Olivi's comments below:

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Joshua Van opens up to Megan Olivi about his first reaction to Alexandre Pantoja's injury

It looks like, at first, Joshua Van did not realize Alexandre Pantoja was injured, and was a bit confused when the Brazilian fell down and didn't get back up.

Speaking with Megan Olivi following the title win, the 24-year-old said that he was ready to pounce on Pantoja with ground and pound before he realized something was off:

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"I just thought he fell, you know. I was trying to ground and pound him, I was trying to jump on him, but he just said like this [gestured with his hand], and I was like, 'Oh, what happened?' I looked at the ref, and I knew something was happening." [0:54 mark of the interview]

Van is the first Asian-born male to win an undisputed UFC title. He is also the second-youngest fighter, after Jon Jones, to win a belt in the world's premier MMA promotion.

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Edited by Ujwal Jain
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