What The Hell Happened At The End Of This Fight?!
So, on the UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs Lee prelims, Ricky Simon took on Merab Dvalishvili in a hell of a bantamweight bout. It was one of those fights that I’m not sure anybody was particularly DYING to see before it took place, but really took us by surprise and overdelivered by simply being a fun back and fourth contest where both guys showed a ton of heart. The end of the fight, however, was as bizarre a conclusion as I’ve ever seen.
Simon sinks in a deep mounted guillotine choke, and it looks like Dvalishvili’s out, but he signals to the referee that he isn’t when checked on, so the fight continues. Dvalishvili’s face started turning purple in no time, and his eyes started getting glassy, but then he starts kicking his legs vigorously as if he’s riding an imaginary unicycle. It was a bit similar to how Tim Elliot tried getting out of Joseph Benavidez’s guillotine at UFC 172.
Dvalishvili survives, and is met with a massive ovation from the crowd who loved the warrior spirit he displayed…but he’s out. Completely unconscious. Ricky Simon points to his opponent, now unmoving on the canvas without any idea where he is, and the referee turns into the Mr Krabs meme.
What do you do in this situation?! The fight reached completion and the horn sounded, but the competitor fighting out of a choke as time expired is now out-cold and slowly regaining consciousness while being aided by ringside doctors. The FOX broadcast went to commercial, and came back moments later with the official decision…the referee decided to retroactively stop the contest at 5:00 of the third and final round, declaring a TKO submission victory for Ricky Simon.
On the surface, if I’m being a rule-stickler, this call makes little to no sense. For the referee to decide that he made the wrong call during the fight, AFTER the fight, is wrong (so long as instant replay wasn’t used, which I don’t believe it was). Paul Felder took exception to that on commentary and wasn’t thrilled with how things unfolded post-fight, and that’s very understandable. That being said, I believe the right decision was made.
As much as I respect and love the fighting spirit that drove Dvalishvili to fight out the clock and attempt to be saved by the bell, that’s all he did. Attempted to be saved by the bell. He wasn’t. When that bell tolled, he wasn’t with us here on Earth. So for me, Ricky Simon rightfully wins this fight. I know that’s a controversial call, though, so let’s just rematch it immediately. The fight was fun enough where I’d watch it again without a doubt. Make it happen, Sean Shelby.
Oh, and while I have you hear, Sean, please make Dan Hooker vs Paul Felder happen too. Hooker called out Felder to his face while being interviewed by him after brutally KOing Jim Miller, and The Irish Dragon seemed pretty open to that idea.