UFC speaks with Michigan regulators about early bell in Maiquel Falcao vs Gerald Harris Fight
On Saturday November 20, Maiquel Falcao battled Gerald Harris at Ultimate Fighting Championship 123. As the end of the first round neared, Falcao applied a rear naked choke on Harris and
it appeared that Harris would be forced to submit. As Falcao tightened his choke the horn to end the round sounded. The problem was that the signal seemed to come approximately seven seconds earlier than it should have, possibly costing Falcao a first round
submission victory.
The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission, which oversaw the event, has announced it's conducting an investigation into the matter, and the UFC is reportedly keeping a close eye on the situation.
Marc Ratner, UFC vice president of regulatory affairs told mmajunkie.com the UFC had now begun communicating with , “I’m talking with the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission. They were
in charge of the regulation of the event.”
The UFC clock was displayed on the pay-per-view feed of the event, but UFC protocol calls for the clock to be removed from the screen as rounds near their end.
Some conspiracy theorists came out of the woodwork after the bout, claiming that the UFC was somehow behind the quick horn in order to give Harris a chance to come back in the fight.
Ratner, a former Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director, attempted to put any talk of a conspiracy to rest, saying, “There’s no conspiracy. In my days as the director of the
Nevada commission, there were rare instances of timekeeper error.”
UFC president Dana White seemed to echo Ratner’s sentiment. “It’s crazy that the round ended early while Gerald was in that nasty choke,” White told mmajunkie.com. “Gerald Harris, at the
end of that round, was out if the timekeeper f***ed it up by seven seconds. Another half second and that dude was asleep, but am I shocked that someone screwed up? No. Every event there’s something. The only thing you can do is bum out and say, ‘It happened
again.’ It’s unbelievable.”
Falcao would go on to win the fight via unanimous decision.
For their part, the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission offered no comment or explanation on the incident.
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