Abel Trujillo Didn’t Get the Win at UFC Fight Night 27, but He’s Going to Be Paid Like He Did

For all the talk surrounding the outstanding card that was UFC Fight Night 27 in Indianapolis on Wednesday night, some of the loudest dialogue surrounded a preliminary fight between Abel Trujillo of South Florida’s Blackzilian’s camp, and former Strikeforce slugger Roger Bowling.

Bowling and Trujillo kicked off the night’s action in a back-and-forth scrap that highlighted the toughness and grit of both fighters.  As the second round came to a close, however, controversy enveloped the Bankers Life Fieldhouse and much debate across social media outlets ensued.

Round one saw the fighters exchange with reckless abandon, trading power shots on a whim, both men visibly stunned over the duration of the first five minutes.

The second was more of the same, and as the frame came to a close, at 4:57 to be exact, Trujillo had Bowling in a prone position, fully grounded on his backside, turtling up, as he unleashed a bevy of straightforward knees.

To most watching at home, the knees seemed to illegally strike Bowling in the face, which would be “strikes to the head of a downed opponent.” Such strikes are illegal in mixed martial arts in America.

That’s why when the referee stepped in to halt the action, very little protest occurred.  The strikes were deemed illegal, the fight was halted due to Bowling’s inability to continue, and the bout was ruled a no-contest.

However, the one man that disagreed with the decision is also the man who writes the paychecks, UFC president Dana White.  White took to Twitter almost instantaneously to voice his displeasure over the decision to rule the bout a no-contest.

“Both those knees were legal!!! Trujillo should have won,” White wrote on Twitter.

It didn’t take long for Trujillo to respond, tweeting, “(in reply to White) thanks boss!!!

Trujillo went on to demean his opponent and claim he was looking for a way out.

“Eventhough I got a NO CONTEST I know in my heart I broke Roger & he found a way out!!! Feels like a Victory a lil bit you feel me!!!”

Many pundits were shocked at the announcement, especially since the knee, the second one to be exact, appeared to have hit Bowling in the face.

However, at the post-fight press conference, White reiterated that the knee was, in fact, legal.

“It literally was not illegal,” he said

And according to White, not only was the knee not illegal, because of that belief, Trujillo would also be receiving his win money.

“It was not an illegal knee. That kid won his fight. I’m going to pay him his win,” he proclaimed.

“The second knee hit him in the shoulder.”

It was a bad night for Bowling, but a bittersweet night for Trujillo, who didn’t get a W, but got the green.