Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has already filed an appeal following his controversial loss to Renan Ferreira at PFL 3.

Werdum (24-10-1 MMA) was making his PFL debut in tonight’s event headliner against a fellow Brazilian in Ferreira (7-2 MMA).

Fabricio had most previously competed in July of 2020, where he scored a first round submission victory over Alexander Gustafsson under the UFC banner.

Meanwhile, Renan Ferreira was returning to action for the first time since August of 2019 this evening in Atlantic City. ‘Problema’ had most previously competed under the LFA banner, where he picked up a submission win over Jared Vanderaa.

Fabricio Werdum would shoot in and score a takedown as soon as the horn sounded to signal the start of tonight’s PFL 3 main event. From there, the Brazilian ace immediately began searching for a submission finish. Werdum would eventually lockup a triangle choke which appeared to prompt a tapout from Ferreira (see that here).

However, the referee did not catch Renan’s tapping motion and seconds later Ferreira was free from the hold. ‘Problema’ immediately began to rain down punches and hammer fists from top position and ‘Vai Cavalo’ was soon rendered unconscious.

The controversial result spawned a ton of fighter reactions on Twitter (see those here) and Werdum’s team was quick to file an appeal with the New Jersey State Athletic Commission.

Fabricio Werdum has filed an appeal of tonight’s #pflmma result with the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, per his manager Ali Abdelaziz. PFL will send the NJSACB the footage where it appeared Renan Ferreira tapped for review.

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) May 7, 2021

“Fabricio Werdum has filed an appeal of tonight’s #pflmma result with the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, per his manager Ali Abdelaziz. PFL will send the NJSACB the footage where it appeared Renan Ferreira tapped for review.” – Marc Raimondi of ESPN reported on Twitter.

As it currently stands, Renan Ferreira walked away with a key 6 points for tonight’s knockout of Fabricio Werdum. The former UFC heavyweight champion will now have to hope that his appeal with the NJSAC results in the fight being overturned.