Two minutes into their fight at UFC on ESPN 3, Jussier Formiga reached out with a looping right hand and caught Joseph Benavidez cleanly on the left eye. At cageside in Minneapolis, Rob Monroe perked up.



It was something about the way Benavidez reached up right away to paw at his own eye. The fighters in this co-main event bout moved quickly, the way flyweights often do, and Monroe had to crane his neck to see around both human and non-human obstacles for a clear view into the cage. When he got a good look at Benavidez moments later, his suspicions were confirmed: His fighter, which is to say the fighter to whose corner he’d been assigned by the UFC, was cut.



Blood shrouded his left eye. Benavidez kept wiping at it, trying to clear his vision, but by then Monroe wasn’t looking at him anymore. By then he had moved on to checking the miniature utility belt strapped to his wrist, making sure he had what he needed to do his job.



The seconds ticked...