Fighter May Have Suffered Worst Swollen Eye Ever

Fight fans witnessed one of the worst swollen eyes in recent memory earlier today (Fri., Mar. 21, 2025) at Cage Warriors 186 from inside Indigo at The O2 in London, England, when a fighter inexplicably blew his nose in between rounds.

The incident occurred during an undercard lightweight matchup between England’s own, Tariq Pell, and Albanian fighter, Ermil Xhaferi. Both fighters are young and on the rise so it was a good opportunity for one of them to leave CW 186 with even more buzz heading into 2025. Unfortunately, the contest didn’t end well for either fighter.

Towards the end of the first round the two lightweights were positioned along the cage. After the bell sounded, Xhaferi seemed to have an issue with his nose and decided to blow it before getting up. His eye immediately began to swell as referee Marc Goddard rushed over to tell him he shouldn’t be doing that. It was too late.

Moments later, the cageside doctor filtered into the cage and needed to take a good look at Xhaferi’s right eye. After seeing Xhaferi closely and asking him a few questions the doctor decided the young lightweight couldn’t continue. The fight was waved off and Pell walked away with the TKO stoppage.

Check out the moment Xhaferi blew his nose below:

The aftermath of the grotesque eye swell can be seen below: