UFC 210 went down tonight from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, and while most of the attention was on Daniel Cormier’s light heavyweight title defense against dangerous knockout artist Anthony Johnson, the card also featured a great middleweight contenders scrap between Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi.
Unfortunately, the fight ended in a total clusterf**k following what appeared to be illegal knees from Gegard Mousasi to Chris Weidman, who seemed to be grounded. But video replay showed that one of Weidman’s hands lifted as the knees landed, making them legal. They still ended up giving Weidman five minutes to recover, much to the dismay of Joe Rogan. But once it was clear the strikes were legal, the fight was waved off and Mousasi was declared the winner.
And it's over! #UFC210 pic.twitter.com/30kku2ACJ2
— UFC (@ufc) April 9, 2017
No one is happy about this one, folks.
If New York doesn’t have instant replay, the initial call should have stood and the fight should have continued after Weidman had a chance to recover from what the referee determined were illegal knees. Even allowing for the call to be corrected, surely there must have been a better option than to stop the fight on account of the referee’s decision. It’s just the latest incident to paint the New York State Athletic Commission as disorganized and incompetent.
Both of these knees are legal. @mousasi_mma lifted up to bring the left hand off the mat #UFC210 pic.twitter.com/cegK3voj9e
— #Dizz (@TalkMMA) April 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/JESnowden/status/850920917425414144
New York commission having a field day here. Apparently weidman had a boob job as well.
— michael (@bisping) April 9, 2017
What’s next for Gegard Mousasi is unclear. The Iranian born Dutchman’s contract with the UFC is up with this fight at UFC 210, and he made it clear that he feels underpaid and underappreciated. Most of the other fighters on the roster that have made these vocal complaints to the press have ended up taking their talents to other promotions. With the UFC seemingly unwilling to drop big bucks on fighters that aren’t helping their pay-per-view bottom line, Mousasi might be the latest fighter to leave the promotion for Bellator.
