During his two-year absence from the cage, Barnett recovered from an Achilles tendon injury that continued to cause him problems.

Chris Barnett is injured while being announced by Bruce Buffer shortly before the fight

When he finally returned to action, the 5-foot-10 heavyweight fan favorite received huge applause from fans and also made the biggest splash at last Friday's ceremonial weigh-ins.

With the 38-year-old finally just minutes away from his first fight in over two years, in typical Bruce Buffer fashion, he channeled all his energy into the ring announcement for “Beastboy.”

Unfortunately, after a tuck jump while Buffer was calling his name, the 38-year-old landed extremely awkwardly on his feet and fell backwards into the cage.

Although Barnett was not clearly in discomfort at the time, it was clear that he had caused himself an injury from the way he landed on his feet. A similar situation occurred when Brian Ortega took on Yair Rodriguez and Ortega jumped up just before the fight and twisted his ankle upon landing.

With luck clearly not on Barnett's side, he tried to shake off the injury he had inflicted on himself and the fight began.

Kennedy Nzechukwu scores TKO win after Barnett goes out injured

From the start of the fight it was clear that Barnett was injured as he came out with the southpaw stance, which the commentary team initially thought was a tactical approach but was apparently due to his injury.

“The African Savage” may not have realized that Barnett had sustained an injury, but from the opening bell he made sure to apply forward pressure and pin the 38-year-old back against the cage.

The Nigerian began to work Barnett's body clean, with Barnett's only response being to attempt a big overhand counter.

Not long into the first round, Barnett attempted his trademark spinning wheel kick and only appeared to make his injury worse, marking the beginning of the end.

Moments later, Nzechukwu closed the distance and began throwing punches that sent Barnett plummeting to the ground as he could no longer endure the pain of his injury, and the referee thankfully intervened.

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