Tonight’s UFC London witnessed a controversial submission victory by Joel Alvarez, sparking a storm of conflicting opinions in the MMA community. Aljamain Sterling, whose first victory against Petr Yan was ironically considered an unfair decision by many, took to Twitter to express his strong disapproval of the outcome.
The bantamweight superstar firmly seems to believe in maintaining fairness and integrity in the sport, and thus, he is demanding that the result of the fight be overturned and declared a No Contest.
Aljamain Sterling points fingers at controversial UFC London bout
Fight decisions in MMA frequently lead to controversies, as usually, the verdict goes in favor of one fighter and against the other. Consequently, when a fighter faces defeat, their supporters often cause outrage as they believe the prospective athlete has been done an injustice.
“The Funk Master,” shared his opinion on the recent UFC London bout, expressing that Joel Alvarez’s victory might have been different if the fight had been halted earlier.
“It’s almost like they group up and say, ‘let’s ignore it and pretend we had a chat.’ Or ‘who’d you bet on?? Ok so let’s leave it like this thing and break me off a piece.’ It’s disgusting.” Sterling tweeted.
Sad for both guys. Should’ve at the minimum been a pause in the action. Too many weeks and money goes into these camps to not do the right thing by the athletes https://t.co/vPtb4ggFi0
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) July 22, 2023
Sterling believes that the unexpected head clash between Alvarez and his opponent, Marc Diakiese, played a significant role in the outcome, and thus, he questions whether the result would have been the same if the fight had been stopped promptly.
“If they don’t change that to a NC, that’s just foul and proves again that there is NO CONSISTENCY in our sport. We need to show an example for certain situations, fouls, etc, so we at least have a baseline on what we’re comparing things too. Remove more of the human ‘guessing’.” Sterling added.
JOEL ALVAREZ STILL HAS HIS 100% FINISH RATE #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/utHzqsO4Js
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 22, 2023
Marc Diakiese loses UFC London after accidental clash of heads
In the preliminary card of UFC London Fight Night, Joel faced Marc in a lightweight battle that captivated fans with both the fighters’ dedication and impressive skills in the first round. However, the moment that stirred controversy occurred in the second round.
Just seconds before Alvarez secured the submission victory, a head collision between the two fighters took place, leading many MMA enthusiasts to believe that it contributed to Marc’s defeat. The contentious head clash raised questions about whether the referee should have intervened and halted the fight immediately.
Despite the potential seriousness of the head injury, the fight was allowed to continue, and unfortunately, Diakiese was unable to recover from the impact of the collision, ultimately leading to his defeat.
Joel Álvarez has never won a decision. He has only won by finishes. 20. pic.twitter.com/M3YEWLIuwL
— Onti 🇦🇬 (@17Onti) July 23, 2023
The incident has sparked discussions among fans and experts about fighter safety and the importance of swift and decisive action from referees in such situations.
