In new statement on Cortney Casey, CABMMA says it 'doesn't judge the character of any competitor'

It’s been four days since UFC Fight Night 100 took place, but one controversial kick is still making waves.

After pointing to a misconduct by Cortney Casey (6-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) to justify the lack of action toward an illegal kick to the head by Claudia Gadelha(14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) during their strawweight scrap, the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) issued another statement on the subject today.

Signed by the commission’s COO, Cristiano Sampaio, the new text reiterated the “decision related to the case,” but rejected any “negativity towards Casey’s character as a professional women’s athlete of MMA.”

In a first statement, Sampaio said the reason why bout referee Fernando Portella did not deduct any points from Gadelha, who went on to take the unanimous decision, was that the kick had not landed and Casey had taken advantage of the recovery time to “rest.”

“The doctor which evaluated the athlete in the cage affirmed to the referee that she was fine, no sign of any possible trauma due to the kick, which in his view made him believe the kick did not land,” Sampaio had written. “In that sense, we believe Cortney took that time to rest and benefit herself.”

Speaking to MMAjunkie,  a hurt Casey reiterated the veracity of the blow – which she says landed right on her hairline – and went on to say that, while she believes Gadelha had full knowledge of the illegality of the strike, she held no ill-till toward her.

Having her character publicly judged, however, stung.

“I don’t make excuses for anything,” Casey said. “That’s what hurts the most, people thinking I was looking for a way out. I don’t understand why people are getting mad at me.”

Read Sampaio’s second statement in full below:

“Due to the repercussion on the incident between Courtney and Gadelha on UFC Bader vs Minotouro, held in São Paulo/SP on November 19th, 2016, The Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) would like to clearly state that it does not, in its role as a regulator, judge the character of any competitor, enroll on false public accusations with the intent to jeopardize their history or future in the sport, and most certainly does not analyze any other circumstance which is not directly related to the regulation of the event, the license athletes and other professionals involved in their responsibility.

The major concern with the incident was to apply the correct judgement call, interpreted by the referee, Commission and medical staff, using their knowledge and commission´s guidelines, and additional resources, which in this case, replays shown in different angles, on the exact moment of the incident.

Finally, if the interpretation of the decision upon the conclusion of the fight has been interpreted in a different and distorted way beyond what was officially meant to, which was to determine the correct call, it should be condemned and discarded.

CABMMA stands by its decision related to this case, but reppels and fully disagrees with any negativity towards Courtney Casey´s character as a professional women athlete of MMA.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 100, check out the UFC Events section of the site.