We know what we were getting into when we became fight fans: There’s the thrill and the rush and the exhilaration of following an exciting fight.

And then there are the bumps and bruises that are the results of a solid scrap: The bone breaks and the bloodshed and the hematomas. They happen to real people who have to live with them, not video game characters.

Even though we know all this, since the fighters fight their fights and then tend to vanish from our television sets until we see them compete again, we sometimes forget what the aftermath looks like.

And that’s why, even though we know the damage that gets done, sometimes we’re still shocked when we see behind-the-scenes footage following MMA fights.

Which brings us to Brian Kelleher. An undeniably tough competitor, the Long Islander didn’t see things go his way Saturday night at UFC 258. He hung in there and went the distance during a unanimous decision loss, but found himself with wounds that needed tending afterwards.

Tuesday, Kelleher gave us a graphic look at the damage — and straight into his skull — over Twitter:

Scar too deep for a bandaid solution pic.twitter.com/IFsCqav2L3

— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) February 16, 2021

At least Kelleher has a sense of humor about the situation. We’ll no doubt see Kelleher back looking good as new soon enough, but in the meantime, this is a good reminder what fighters endure for our entertainment.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.