UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa has officially appealed his recent submission loss to Kevin Lee.
On Sunday, at a UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City, Chiesa fought Lee in a pivotal lightweight fight in the main event.
In the first round, Lee secured a rear-naked choke. However, before Chiesa tapped out or went unconscious, referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight and awarded Lee the submission win.
When Yamasaki stopped the fight, Chiesa immediately got up and started protesting the referee’s stoppage. In Yamasaki’s defense, it did appear that Chiesa was about to pass out from the submission hold.
In his appeal to the state of Oklahoma, Chiesa claimes Yamasaki has a “long history of failing to meet standards officials are held to.”
“I did not tap, I did not verbally submit, I was not knocked unconscious and at no point did I go unconscious,” Chiesa said in his appeal.
Chiesa is requesting that his fight with Lee be overturned to a no-contest.
Michael Chiesa has formally appealed Kevin Lee loss, noting Yamasaki has "long history of failing to meet standards officials are held to."
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 29, 2017
Here's @MikeMav22's description of the end of the fight, straight from his appeal submitted yesterday. He's asking for a no-contest. pic.twitter.com/ID0gBa8xv0
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 29, 2017
