There was a very strange moment during the women’s strawweight fight between Claudia Gadelha and Cortney Casey at UFC Sao Paulo at the weekend.
Gadelha defeated Casey via unanimous decision after dominating her opponent over three rounds, but there was a brief scare that she may lose the bout via disqualification after throwing a soccer kick in the third round.
Casey hit the deck in the third and sat up to try to grab a hold of the Brazilian’s leg. Gadelha then threw the illegal blow causing Casey to fall backwards and roll around on the mat in agony.
Gadelha immediately held her hands out to apologise for the illegal strike while referee Fernando Portella gave the American the standard five minutes to recover. He did not deduct a point off Gadelha. Casey eventually got back to her feet and the fight continued until the final buzzer.
In the post-fight press conference, Gadelha explained that she didn’t think the kick landed and that her apology was for throwing the kick as opposed to causing any damage. However, Casey maintains that the strike did indeed land.
The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) agree with Gadelha’s assessment of the incident. Their COO Cristiano Sampaio explained to MMA Fighting that the referee didn’t deduct a point because Casey had feigned injury in order to recover and the strike didn’t land.
“Because the kick didn’t land, the athlete forged the injury. Had she not done that, and not used that time to her benefit and rest, he would have deducted the point.”
“Had the kick landed, Claudia could get two points deducted or being disqualified. (Casey’s) conduct was wrong and unsportsmanlike, which could even be interpreted by the referee as she was giving up on the fight. The point was not deducted because of her attitude. It was an atypical situation and (the referee) acted correctly under our interpretation.”
