In a devastating turn of events at UFC Vegas 77, strawweight fighter Istela Nunes suffered a severe elbow injury just seconds into her fight against Victoria Dudakova. During an attempted takedown by Dudakova, Nunes fell awkwardly, landing directly on her elbow. The impact resulted in an audible shriek of pain from Nunes, who immediately clutched her arm. The referee quickly intervened to assess the damage.

The gravity of the injury was evident to onlookers, many of whom reacted with shock and concern. Later, UFC president Dana White revealed an X-ray image appearing to show a clean break in Nunes' elbow. Following the fight, Nunes took to social media to express gratitude for the outpouring of support she received. Despite the setback, she remained positive, stating, "I felt very good and very strong. I prepared a lot for this fight...But I will come back stronger and show you all again." This marks Nunes' fourth consecutive loss since transitioning from One Championship to the UFC.

Dudakova was awarded the victory via TKO due to injury. Reflecting on the incident, Dudakova explained that she continued her attack as instructed by the referee, who had emphasized the importance of fighting until explicitly stopped. Dudakova expressed her regret over the unfortunate outcome, stating, "I saw that she was in agony...then the referee finally came in and stopped the fight. Obviously, I want nothing but the speediest recovery from my opponent. I’m sorry that it happened, but it’s not necessarily my fault."