In one of the more bizarre (and definitely the latest) stoppage in UFC history, Ricky Simon hooked a guillotine choke on Merab Dvalishvili trying to snatch a comeback win with under a minute left in the fight. Throughout the last minute, Dvalishvili was choked purple, but consistently gave the referee a thumbs up and kicked his legs to show he was conscious (or perhaps to help keep the blood flowing into his brain). The referee watched close, and motioned to stop it a few times, but clearly let the fight see the final bell.
Somehow he didn't tap 👀 pic.twitter.com/tBk6I2db3u
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) April 22, 2018
Shit got weird as soon as the bell rang. Dvalishvili kind of looked choked unconscious, but then also immediately began to get up. That’s when the doctors and commissioners rushed to give him medical aid and told him to stay down. Clearly, no one knew what the fuck was going on.
Eventually, the scores were read, except they weren’t, and it was announced that Ricky Simon won by TKO at 5:00 of the 3rd round. What the fuck?
If you ask the winner (a completely unbiased source), Dvalishvili was choked out and unconscious when the round ended, and perhaps even choked out and woken up a few times during the sequence. Which is kind of even more impressive. Dvalishvili genuinely got choked dead and kept fighting.
"I stood over his limp body at the end. I saw his eyes rolling back." @RickySimonUFC explains why there was nothing controversial about his TKO win over Merab Dvalishvili at #UFCAC.
Recap: https://t.co/0HLHKFWQXs
Reaction: https://t.co/fRBR9JEcB4 pic.twitter.com/imtsLCsJ8R— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 22, 2018
In case you thought it wouldn’t matter and the judges would have given Ricky Simon the win no matter what, a quick look at the score cards show that Merab Dvalishvili had actually secured the split decision victory.
If fight does go to the judges, Dvalishvili wins by split decision. #UFCAC pic.twitter.com/eierk2Kf9F
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) April 22, 2018
So did the NJ commission fuck Dvalishvili out of a rightful victory? Or did they properly enforce MMA “unified” rules? Who fucking knows. For real. I don’t think there is a human being alive who actually knows what the specifics of MMA rules. And to be honest, I prefer it that way. Rules in MMA should always be considered strong suggestions at best.
