Gerald Harris says Maiquel Falcao’s choke was dirty, contributed to loss
After a loss to Brazilian Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123 on Saturday 20 November, American mixed martial artist Gerald Harris told mmajunkie.com that Falcao held a choke at the end of the first round for longer
than was fair, and that it contributed to Harris’s loss.
"For one, I'm going to be a man and say he shouldn't have taken my back anyway [to get into rear-naked choke position], so before I even go into him holding the choke too long, I'm going to say that," Harris
said. "But now, since I did, I think it was a little dirty; there was a little extra [holding].”
Controversy surrounded the end of the first round. Falcao had seemingly managed to sink in a choke around the neck, and it looked like the end for Harris. Then the horn sounded to end the round, but Falcao
kept the choke on for another few seconds, even as referee Dan Miragliotta instructed him to release it. But others have noted that the horn sounded seven seconds earlier than it should have, just seconds after the 10-second warning, and that Falcao was confused
and likely would have been able to finish Harris if he had had the proper amount of time.
Harris denied that he would have tapped out, but said it did have a lasting effect.
"He had the choke tight as h**l, but I turned my chin in like I was taught. I was fine,” he maintained. But he wasn’t able to fully recover from the effort of defending it, and especially the extra time Falcao
held the choke. “It does take a lot out of you. Anyone who's been choked can tell you it takes a little (while) to come back from that. I wasn't in survival mode. I just felt like I wasn't 'there' at that time."
The Michigan athletic commission hasn’t yet addressed the media as to why the horn was sounded early, but for Harris, one thing is certain: early ending or not, Falcao was wrong to hold the choke.
"I do think the choke was a little dirty minus the people that think the clock was stopped early," he said.
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