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A college football fan stabbed in a fight before Saturday's USC-UCLA game was left with a piece of knife embedded in his cheek, The Orange County Register reported Sunday.
Josh Dirling, 27, suffered a broken nose and cheekbone after being stabbed in the cheek.
"He was stabbed in the right cheek, the tip of the knife broke off and lodged itself in his cheekbone," eyewitness Renee Breceda, the girlfriend of Dirling's twin brother, told the newspaper.
"The plastic surgeon said it would do more harm then good to remove knife fragment, so they left it and gave him stitches."
Dirling and Vimal Patel, 24, were both injured in the brawl, involving up to 75 people, which began at 4:30 p.m. local time Saturday when a stray football landed among a group of fans.
Dirling and Patel were among a group of up to 20 people who had been drinking and eating since 6:30 a.m. in Parking Lot 1 on the north side of the Rose Bowl.
They were among the tailgaters at UCLA's home stadium in Pasadena, Calif.
Patel and a friend were tossing a football when the ball accidentally landed on a black Mercedes-Benz that belonged to another group that had also been drinking since Saturday morning.
A confrontation ensured and escalated into a full-blown brawl, with Patel and Dirling being stabbed, according to family and friends. Patel was stabbed numerous times in the back.
Arturo Cisneros, 44, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, while Steven Radu, 27, and Joseph Elder, 23, were also arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after scuffling with two police officers.
Bail was set at $1 million for each of the men.
Both Dirling and Patel were listed as being in fair condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital, the Los Angeles Times reported.
