Ignacio Bahamondes and Tofiq Musayev fought out a gruesome three-round war at UFC Seattle.The canvas was drenched in blood upon the conclusion of the 15-minute bout, which Musayev won by unanimous decision.Bahamondes was split open by a nasty elbow in the second roundGettyThere was so much blood left in the Octagon by the end of the fight that fans were calling for the UFC to bring in a new canvas before Israel Adesanya fought Joe Pyfer in the main event.Bahamondes vs Musayev – what happened?Bahamondes and Musayev traded heavy blows in an electrifying start to the fight.The former was hoping to bounce back from a unanimous decision defeat against Rafael Fiziev last June, and was on the right path when he dropped Musayev with a crisp straight left hand.However, Musayev quickly recovered and made it to his feet, although UFC commentator Daniel Cormier was quick to point out he did so by illegally grabbing the fence.View Tweet: https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFCSeattle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwReferee Bobby Wombacher also missed a wild headbutt from the Azerbaijani fighter, which is why some fans later claimed Bahamondes was ‘robbed.’ Musayev gained top position as time ticked on, and crimson red appeared for the first time when he unloaded a deadly elbow straight on the skull of Bahamondes.Bahamondes was instantly split wide open, and those in attendance at Climate Pledge Arena may have been expecting a doctor’s stoppage.But, after getting cleaned up in his corner, the Chilean lightweight, to his credit, fought on.The lightweights continued to exchange leather in the third and final round, with Musayev on the hunt for his first win in Dana White‘s promotion.And that’s exactly what the 36-year-old managed when Bruce Buffer read the scorecards of 29-28, 29-27, and 30-27 all in his favour.The lightweights put on an action-packed war on the preliminary card of UFC SeattleGettyMusayev won the fight via unanimous decision to earn his first promotional win following an unsuccessful debut last JuneGettyStraight after the fight, Brendan Fitzgerald asserted he’d just witnessed the ‘bloodiest fight of 2026’, and it’s hard to disagree with the UFC commentator.MMA fans were also full of praise for the action-packed bout.Fans call Bahamondes vs Musayev Fight of the YearReacting to the fight, one fan wrote: “That was the fight of the year in terms of tension… “I was getting so nervous for Bahamondes when he was getting ground and pounded on.”Another added: “Best fight of the year? Bahamondes got robbed.”A third said: “What an unbelievable fight from Ignacio Bahamondes and Tofiq Musayev.MMA fans are calling the contest the Fight of the YearGetty“That second round is in contention for best round of the year and the fight as a whole is a contender for FOTY.“Unfortunately, those fouls happened, so that dampens it a little. What a scrap, though!”This X user stated: “Musayev vs Bahamondes is easily fight of the year.”UFC Seattle also witnessed Lance Gibson Jr emulate his father’s success to earn his first win in the promotion.Meanwhile, Terrance McKinney and Yousri Belgaroui both scored huge stoppage victories.