UFC: Bruno Blindado says Weidman “acted in bad faith” with a finger in the eye | combat

Bruno Blindado did not hide his anger after his defeat to Chris Weidman in last Saturday’s UFC, in Atlantic City. On the main card, the Brazilian had his eye hit by the North American’s fingers, referee Gary Copeland ordered the fight to continue, declaring a technical knockout for Weidman. In an interview with “MMA Fighting”, the Brazilian complained a lot about the referee’s performance and stated that he will file an appeal.

Mundo da Luta discusses whether Belfort’s victory would tarnish Popó’s image

– That referee was bizarre. He messed up. The least they could do was (change to) a no contest. No way. He put his finger inside my eye, he told the “MMA Fighting” website.

Subsequently, after review, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board decided to use the score from the fight instead of upholding the technical knockout. Blindado felt wronged and believes that the North American benefited.

– I thought the referee had stopped the fight because of my eye, but then I saw (Weidman) celebrating. I thought, “There’s no way this son of a bitch could have knocked me out. I’ve never been knocked out in my career. I was very angry, I told the referee to look at the video. I wanted to hit him, but I knew it would destroy my career. I needed to control myself.

Bruno said he was relieved when he learned that the result had been changed and that, therefore, it would not be a knockout. However, the fighter expected that he would receive a “no contest”.

– I didn’t understand. He poked me in the eye in the second round, did it again in the third and won by unanimous decision? He acted in bad faith. He spent the entire fight with his fingers pointed at my face and even celebrated as if he had knocked me out. (…) He was disloyal. He knows what he did.

UFC
March 30, 2024, in Atlantic City (USA)
MAIN CARD
Manon Fiorot defeated Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Joaquin Buckley beat Vicente Luque by TKO at 3:17 of R2
Chris Weidman beat Bruno Blindado by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nursulton Ruziboev beat Sedriques Dumas by knockout at 3:18 of R1
Kyle Nelson beat Bill Algeo by TKO at 4:00 of R1
Chidi Njokuani defeated Rhys McKee via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Nate Landwehr beat Jamall Emmers by knockout at 4:43 of R1
PRELIMINARY CARD
Virna Jandiroba defeated Lupita Godinez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Julio Arce beat Herbert Burns by technical knockout at 2:00 of R2
Dennis Buzukja beat Connor Matthews by TKO at 22 seconds of R3
Ibo Aslan beat Anton Turkalj by TKO in 1min32s of R3
Jacob Malkoun beat Andre Petroski by TKO at 39 seconds of R2
Caolan Loughran defeated Angel Pacheco by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)