One of the worst stoppages in UFC history occurred during a light heavyweight bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Ion Cutelaba at tonight’s event in Virginia.
Ankalaev and Cutelaba collided on the main card of tonight’s UFC Norfolk event with referee Kevin McDonald overseeing the contest.
As expected, Ion Cutelaba came storming out of the gate but wound up absorbing multiple head kicks for his aggressiveness. ‘The Hulk’ was clearly rocked but was still on his feet and swing punches. After eating a left hand rom his Russian opponent, which Cutelaba seemed to absorb, the referee decided he had seen enough and stepped in to call a stop to the action.
With that, Magomed Ankalaev was awarded the first round stoppage victory.
Ion Cutelaba, along with fans in attendance and those watching around the world, were furious with the stoppage.
Many pro fighters took to Twitter following the bouts conclusion to dub Kevin McDonald’s stoppage as one of the “worst” in promotional history.
Check out the pros reactions below:
Agree https://t.co/XyNmu95dD1
— Niko Price (@Nikohybridprice) March 1, 2020
The referee called this one wrong!#ThisIsSucks
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) March 1, 2020
Watching the replay I believe he WAS playing possum. Every time he got touched he looked away and went extreme wobbly legs to draw his opponent in and then quickly snapped out of it firing a bomb! #UFCNorfolk
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) March 1, 2020
Such a bad stoppage!!#UFCNorfolk
— Herbert Burns (@HerbertBurnsMMA) March 1, 2020
The rope-a-dope backfired there… weird. #UFCNorfolk
— Joe Ellenberger (@JoeEllenberger) March 1, 2020
What the heck did I just watch? #ufcnorfolk
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) March 1, 2020
I disagree with that stoppage Cutelaba looked fine immediately after the stoppage, he immediately got his legs legs back after the ref stopped it, Bisping might be right he might’ve been baiting Ankalaev to rush him. At the very least it was too early. #UFCNorfolk
— Louis Smolka (@LASTSAMURAIUFC) March 1, 2020
That was straight up stupid!! Knockout??? Are you fucking kidding me?!?! #UFCNorfolk OVERTURN!
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/danhardymma/status/1233935794907353088
With the loss, Ion Cutelaba drops to 15-5 in his MMA career, which includes a 4-4 record inside of the Octagon.
As for Magomed Ankalaev, the Russian standout improves to 14-1 as a professional.
What did you think of the referee stoppage in tonight’s Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba bout? Should an immediate rematch be made by UFC officials? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this post PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com February 29, 2020
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