UFC 203’s co-main event between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne was 50 shades of bizarre.
The fight marked Werdum’s first fight since losing the title to Stipe Miocic, who successfully defended his belt against Alistair Overeem in the headline bout.
Werdum opened up proceedings by landing a flying head kick and it appeared as though that might set the tone for the rest of the fight.
However, his momentum was slowed down in the first round when Browne injured his finger trying to parry a punch and called time-out so that the doctor could check it out. Inexplicably, referee Gary Copeland allowed the stoppage even though it says in the rulebook that fighters cannot call time-outs for injuries, they can only call a verbal submission, thus ending the fight.
The weird moment didn’t matter much in the end as Werdum went on to cruise his way to a unanimous decision victory against the Hawaiian.
Although the fighting wasn’t over after the final buzzer sounded. Things turned sour between Werdum and Browne’s coach Edmund Tarverdyan in the Octagon after the bout as the coach offended the Brazilian by aggressively calling him a “motherfucker,” which the Portuguese speaker misconstrued as a slur against his mother and subsequently push-kicked him in the chest.
This altercation may well have been avoided had the referee awarded Werdum the TKO victory in the first round, which famed referee Big John McCarthy believes should have happened. McCarthy confirmed that the fight should have been stopped immediately once Browne called for a time-out.
A mistake was made. Fighters can't call timeout. The fight should have been stopped. TKO for Werdum #AskBJM https://t.co/2B2jHkVpQP
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) September 11, 2016
If Travis steps back & attempts 2 fix his finger while the fights on, it's OK. Once he asks 4 time it's over #AskBJM https://t.co/Zy5ASuF6Np
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) September 11, 2016
If a fighter ask for a timeout stating he has an injury, he is abandoning the fight due to injury, TKO #AskBJM https://t.co/rQIfajNofI
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) September 11, 2016
Case closed. The result will stand, albeit Werdum was robbed of a first-round finish.
We’ll have to wait to find out if whether Tarverdyan or Werdum will be punished for the post-fight altercation though.
