UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson suffered a KO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 113. However, the fighter suffered multiple eye pokes during the match, leading Nelson to request that the fight be overturned.
It would appear that the commission has decided to let the knockout loss stand, as Nelson’s management team posted over Facebook:
“We are disappointed with the UFC’s recent ruling to uphold the result of the July 16, 2017 bout between our client, Gunnar Nelson, and Santiago Ponzinibbio. While we understand the outcome of a fight is difficult to overturn, we maintain that the blatant eye pokes were a major factor in the stoppage and the final eye poke was certainly a fight ending foul beause Gunnar had no opportunity to signal the referee.
“A more stringent application of the Unified Rules of MMA should have been applied here to rule this fight a no-contest. We stand behind Gunnar and Team Nelson, and we hope this unfortunate situation will lead to more careful application of the rules regarding eye pokes, as fairness and fighter safety must always be a priority.”
