TUF 18 Finale Play-by-Play: Akira Corassani vs. Maximo Blanco

TUF 18 Finale Live Results Home Page

Akira Corassani vs. Maximo Blanco

Round 1: Blanco moves forward and lands a combination.  He takes Corassani down.  Corassani works his way back to his feet and Blanco delivers a knee.  The replay shows Corassani was downed at the time making it an illegal knee.  Corassani says he can’t see as he’s on the canvas.  He’s being checked by the cageside doctor.  Corassani is bleeding from his nose.  The fight is stopped due to the illegal knee.  The referee is saying it’s going to be a disqualification.  Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission enters the cage and tells referee Mario Yamasaki that he can look at the replay.

The official ruling is is for Corassani by disqualification.  Referee Mario Yamasaki ruled that the knee was intentional making it a disqualification rather than a No Contest.  The official time of the disqualification was 0:25 of the first round.

QUOTES

Akira Corassani
“It feels like someone flushed blood through my nose.  Its definitely broken.  He likes to knee guys on their way up so I was protecting my body, my ribs and wasn’t expecting it to my head.  No disrespect to Maximo, but he has a history of doing illegal moves.  Look at his fight against (Pat) Healy.  He trains in Japan where a lot of this stuff is legal so maybe there is a disconnect and he doesn’t understand.  I don’t know how else to explain it.

Maximo Blanco
“I apologize to Akira, I felt the knee was ok.”

SCORECARDS

TUF 18 Finale Live Results Home Page