UFC heavyweight Walt Harris is now coming off of a bit of a losing streak. The fighter was recently offered a shot at facing off against Fabricio Werdum on UFC 216’s main card. The fighter was already set to face Mark Godbeer in the night’s prelims, but Werdum’s original opponent backed out of their fight due to an injury. As a result, Godbeer was removed from the night’s event and Harris was upgraded to the night’s main card.
Of course, Harris would go on to lose to Werdum in the first round. The fighter would then go on to finally fight Mark Godbeer at Saturday’s UFC 217. This time around, the two competitors went toe-to-toe. However, the fight was cut short as Harris was disqualified from the match.
After striking Godbeer with a powerful low blow, the referee stepped between the two fighters. Still, Harris followed up his strike with a kick to Godbeer’s head.
Godbeer was found unfit to continue fighting and Harris suffered a loss due to disqualification for the strike. Now it would appear that the fighter has been advised by UFC President Dana White to appeal the recent loss.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Harris said:
“I felt like (the referee) was a bit late. He said he yelled, but it’s a fight. I can’t hear you yelling. I barely can hear my own corner. I’m in the middle of a fight trying to finish the fight. From what I saw on the replay, I saw he was getting there as the kick landed.”
“I spoke with Dana right afterward, and he told me to contest it. He told me to appeal it. He said he felt like, you know, there’s a replay and I had a chance to win if I appealed. And that’s what I’m going to do. I feel like, at worst, it should have been a no-contest. If you remember, Curtis Blaydes and Aleksei Oleinik had the same type of situation, and they gave Curtis the win.
“I don’t understand how mine just went straight to a disqualification when there was conclusive evidence on the replay that the knee didn’t land low and I was in the heat of the fight. It wasn’t like the ref had put his hands on me, stopped my momentum, and then I took off and went and hit him. I was in the middle of a combination. So, to just go straight to a disqualification is like – I don’t understand it.”
