The end of the fight between Gegard Mousasi and Chris Weidman left a sour taste for everyone watching, but especially for the two middleweights involved in the controversial ending at UFC 210.
It all happened in the second round when Mousasi fired off a pair of knees that blasted Weidman in the head and referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight while declaring the second strike as illegal.
Replays showed that the knee strikes were actually legal and the fight should have continued, but upon the doctor’s advice, Weidman was deemed medically unfit to compete and Mousasi was declared the winner by TKO.
“Pretty much the whole time [the referee] was telling me it was an illegal knee, you have five minutes, take your time,” Weidman explained at the post fight press conference. “I thought I was going to win because of an illegal knee. Then they looked at a replay, he left the Octagon to look at replay and said it was a legal knee but in the state of New York there’s no replays.
“So it’s a crappy situation.”
For his part, Mousasi feels like Weidman was looking for a way out after he took two very damaging knees that could have potentially led to a finish for him over the former middleweight champion.
“I have a lot of respect for Weidman, I don’t want to bad mouth him but if you want to play smart and take advantage of the rules, that’s not my fault, I’m fighting. If you want to put your hands down so I cannot knee you or take it up, we’re fighting. Don’t try to take advantage of the rules,” Mousasi said. “I’m fighting and at the end of the day it was legal.
“That’s what everyone says now. It was a legal. I don’t make the rules. It was legal and I felt like he didn’t want to continue. I think everyone saw that. He didn’t want to continue. How’s that my fault? I don’t give a [expletive]. I won.”
Considering the outcome, Weidman says he plans to file an appeal with the New York State Athletic Commission over the result but more than anything he just wants a rematch with Mousasi to settle the score.
“If it was a legal knee, I would loved to just keep fighting. It shouldn’t have been stopped but the ref at the end of the day is the one who made the judgment call in the state of New York, his word is what counts. There’s no replay, you can’t go back to replay,” Weidman said.
“I would love to get a rematch. I would love to get three rounds in. I feel like I was on my way to winning that fight. What are you going to do? I know obviously Gegard has to be pissed, too. He doesn’t want to win like that. I would have been pissed if they stopped it and I won the fight. I would definitely do a rematch so I want a rematch right away.”
Mousasi responded by saying he’s happy to give Weidman a rematch although in a perfect world he’s gunning for a shot at the title so that takes precedence over everything else for him.
“If he wants his rematch, I can give it to him but at the end of the day I’m chasing the title,” Mousasi said. “If I fight [Michael] Bisping, I think I will be favored. Fighting Weidman is tough. It was a tough fight. First round he won, second round I was coming back. I hurt him. Whatever, I’m not the matchmaker.
“I didn’t want to win it this way but it’s a win. Some soccer games they score with a penalty [kick], they win. It’s a win. At the end of the day, I’ll take it. He didn’t want to fight. It’s not my fault.”
The one major caveat to this entire situation is Mousasi’s current status as a free agent following the last fight of his current contract with the UFC against Weidman.
While Mousasi has expressed a lot of ill feelings about his current salary, he said UFC president Dana White promised to get a deal done with him and more than anything he just wants to stay competing with the best of the best in the Octagon.
“My goal is to get the UFC belt,” Mousasi said. “I’m not looking to go anywhere else.”
It all happened in the second round when Mousasi fired off a pair of knees that blasted Weidman in the head and referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight while declaring the second strike as illegal.
Replays showed that the knee strikes were actually legal and the fight should have continued, but upon the doctor’s advice, Weidman was deemed medically unfit to compete and Mousasi was declared the winner by TKO.
“Pretty much the whole time [the referee] was telling me it was an illegal knee, you have five minutes, take your time,” Weidman explained at the post fight press conference. “I thought I was going to win because of an illegal knee. Then they looked at a replay, he left the Octagon to look at replay and said it was a legal knee but in the state of New York there’s no replays.
“So it’s a crappy situation.”
For his part, Mousasi feels like Weidman was looking for a way out after he took two very damaging knees that could have potentially led to a finish for him over the former middleweight champion.
“I have a lot of respect for Weidman, I don’t want to bad mouth him but if you want to play smart and take advantage of the rules, that’s not my fault, I’m fighting. If you want to put your hands down so I cannot knee you or take it up, we’re fighting. Don’t try to take advantage of the rules,” Mousasi said. “I’m fighting and at the end of the day it was legal.
“That’s what everyone says now. It was a legal. I don’t make the rules. It was legal and I felt like he didn’t want to continue. I think everyone saw that. He didn’t want to continue. How’s that my fault? I don’t give a [expletive]. I won.”
Considering the outcome, Weidman says he plans to file an appeal with the New York State Athletic Commission over the result but more than anything he just wants a rematch with Mousasi to settle the score.
“If it was a legal knee, I would loved to just keep fighting. It shouldn’t have been stopped but the ref at the end of the day is the one who made the judgment call in the state of New York, his word is what counts. There’s no replay, you can’t go back to replay,” Weidman said.
“I would love to get a rematch. I would love to get three rounds in. I feel like I was on my way to winning that fight. What are you going to do? I know obviously Gegard has to be pissed, too. He doesn’t want to win like that. I would have been pissed if they stopped it and I won the fight. I would definitely do a rematch so I want a rematch right away.”
Mousasi responded by saying he’s happy to give Weidman a rematch although in a perfect world he’s gunning for a shot at the title so that takes precedence over everything else for him.
“If he wants his rematch, I can give it to him but at the end of the day I’m chasing the title,” Mousasi said. “If I fight [Michael] Bisping, I think I will be favored. Fighting Weidman is tough. It was a tough fight. First round he won, second round I was coming back. I hurt him. Whatever, I’m not the matchmaker.
“I didn’t want to win it this way but it’s a win. Some soccer games they score with a penalty [kick], they win. It’s a win. At the end of the day, I’ll take it. He didn’t want to fight. It’s not my fault.”
The one major caveat to this entire situation is Mousasi’s current status as a free agent following the last fight of his current contract with the UFC against Weidman.
While Mousasi has expressed a lot of ill feelings about his current salary, he said UFC president Dana White promised to get a deal done with him and more than anything he just wants to stay competing with the best of the best in the Octagon.
“My goal is to get the UFC belt,” Mousasi said. “I’m not looking to go anywhere else.”
No comments:
Post a Comment