from MMA Junkie on Apr 22, 2018
74 views
Comment

In what was seemingly a first in UFC history, Ricky Simon was awarded a TKO victory at UFC Fight Night 128 despite his opponent making it past the final bell of their bantamweight fight.

Merab Dvalishvili (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) was arguably getting the better of Simon until the late stages of the preliminary card matchup at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Then Simon (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) 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. Simon was awarded the win by TKO, sending the MMA community into a fit of confusion. Check below for the top Twitter reactions to the bizarre situation.

* * * *

Somehow he didn't tap ?? pic.twitter.com/tBk6I2db3u

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) April 22, 2018

WUT. ??#UFCAC

— UFC (@ufc) April 22, 2018

Holy shit ive never seen anything like that. Mirab doing the bicycle for over 30 seconds defending a guillotine #UFCAC

— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) April 22, 2018

Holy bejeezus I thought he was unconscious there. Not sure how he withstood that choke.

— Mike Chiappetta MMA (@MikeChiappetta) April 22, 2018

They be trying to add drama. Keeping him on the ground. He was fine let him up and give him a damn #Modelo

— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) April 22, 2018

That was stressful to watch ?? #UFCAC

— Jessica Penne (@JessicaPenne) April 22, 2018

These two guys deserve fight of the night

— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) April 22, 2018

Maybe the most amazing thing I’ve seen to end a fight lol… @RickySimon135 @MerabDvalishvil #UFCAC

— Daniel Rubenstein (@dannyrube) April 22, 2018

That was some boss stuff, surviving that choke! #UFCAtlanticCity

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) April 22, 2018

How do you make it to the final bell without the referee stopping it … and still lose by TKO? Because he wouldn't be able to continue in a fight that was OVER? I am so confused. Help. #UFCAC

— Simon Samano (@SJSamano) April 22, 2018

That was so weird! I’ve never seen some shit like that! Ima start working that bicycle kick D! #UFCAtlanticCity

— Chas Skelly (@ChasSkelly) April 22, 2018

No way mareb should be able to win that fight

— Mike "Biggie" Rhodes (@TeamRocBiggie) April 22, 2018

#UFCAC results: @RickySimonUFC def. Merab Dvalishvili via TKO – Round 3, 5:00 https://t.co/PN9HG8oZUO

— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) April 22, 2018

Wow. Ricky Simon gets the TKO win due to an official stoppage at the end of the third and final round. Simon insists Dvalishvili was out. Perhaps. Longo is gonna lose his mind. #UFCAC

— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) April 22, 2018

How can you call a stop after the round's over, and by TKO on a sub??? I am confused? ?????? pic.twitter.com/CvCvDP8Cc6

— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) April 22, 2018

Has that ever happened before?

— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) April 22, 2018

I *think* that's the right call, but controversial.

— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) April 22, 2018

What …!?!?! #UFCAtlanticCity

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) April 22, 2018

Guy was out pic.twitter.com/fZZPuuwJWP

— Robert Whiteford (@Flyinjudoka) April 22, 2018

What just happened in that fight? Ref didn’t stop fight. Time runs out and it’s a stoppage? ??????? #UFCAtlanticCity

— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) April 22, 2018

Wtf is that!!!! Bullshit!!! Wtf he never tapped round over bs anderson silva didn't win the bisping horrible!! @ufc #UFCAtlanticCity

— Truck Gordon (@TruckMMA_UFC) April 22, 2018

I do not agree with that ref call #UFCAC

— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) April 22, 2018

Congrats @RickySimonUFC. You lucky little bastard hahaha. Way to pull it out. Proud of you.

— Mike Pierce (@MikePierce170) April 22, 2018

Official: Ricky Simon earns the latest finish ever in a three-round UFC fight at 5:00 R3. I think I've seen it all at this point. #UFCAC

— Michael Carroll (@MJCflipdascript) April 22, 2018

UFC Fight Night 128 results: Ricky Simon chokes out Merab Dvalishvili for controversial TKO https://t.co/uhPxwbUJcE

— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) April 22, 2018

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

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly seriously, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

view original article >>

Report here if this news is invalid.

<< Previous News Next News >>