Ricky Simon on controversial stoppage vs. Merab Dvalishvili : 'I stood over his limp body'

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Ricky Simon has no doubt that the referee made the right call in his controversial win over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Fight Night 128.

In what was seemingly a first in UFC history, Simon (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was awarded a TKO victory despite Dvalishvili (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) making it past the final bell of their bantamweight fight.

Dvalishvili was getting the better of Simon until the late stages of the preliminary card matchup at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Had the fight gone to the scorecards, Dvalishvili was up two rounds on two of the three judges’ tallies. Then Simon applied a guillotine choke, which was locked in for roughly the final 40 seconds of the fight.

Although Dvalishvili did not tap, the referee deemed him unable to continue at the 5:00 mark of Round 3.

“Everyone else might have been confused – I wasn’t,” Simon told MMAjunkie post-fight. “I was choking him hard with everything I had, I was trying to stay calm in that guillotine and I felt him go limp there. I stood over his limp body at the end. I saw his eyes roll back. … I was yelling at the ref, ‘He’s out! He’s out! If you want me to keep squeezing the neck I’m going to.’ I felt him, he was out.”

Simon got his opportunity to debut as a short-notice replacement. It’s marked his third fight since December, with his most recent being a 59-second win at LFA 36 on March 23. He admitted he was feeling the quick turnaround, and he said that paired with the confusing ending to the fight took some of the glory away from his first UFC win.

“I’m so excited for the opportunity,” Simon said. “I fulfilled a dream tonight, but I can’t help but be disappointed with myself and my performance.”

Although the UFC debut didn’t fully satisfy him, Simon said he’s moving on. He already has plans for his sophomore octagon effort, and even named a specific opponent he wants next in unbeaten Benito Lopez (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

“(Next is a) little bit of rest, little bit of family time and a lot of beating up little Benito,” Simon said. “Little Benito Lopez I’m coming for you. You’ve been dodging me for too long. I’m coming for you little B.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 128, check out the UFC Events section of the site.