Mixed martial artist are a very young sport. And as such it’s important to remember that anything goes. In that cage, it’s each to his own.
On this day two years ago something peculiar happened.
UAE athlete Ahmad Al Darmaki was featured as one of the cards at UAE Warriors 12. Darmaki went toe-to-toe with Bogdan Kirilenko and was doing pretty well. Darmaki got the better of Kirilenko and managed to put him in a rear-naked choke hold.
Surprisingly, Darmaki acted in unsportsmanlike fashion and opted to not release the hold when the referee halted the bout. The man who oversaw the event was the famous UFC referee Marc Goddard.
Darmaki eventually released the hold but decided to attack Goddard. Due to this action, Ahmad Al Darmaki was disqualified and also kicked out of UAE Warriors. This brazen act surely irked a lot of MMA fans and no MMA promotion ever wanted to sign Darmaki. It was his last professional MMA bout with a total score consisting of 2 wins and 6 losses.
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Darmaki is not alone in this type of behavior. Rousimar Palhares became infamous for his vicious nature with which he ruined several athletes knees – and one might say – intentionally. Palhares was ultimately released from the UFC and subsequently from WSOF (now PFL) and is now reduced to making checks in obscure Russian promotions by getting TKOed on the yearly basis.
One month following the incident, Darmaki released a clarification video and provided point of view. In the lengthy video, Darmaki explained that he simply did not see that his opponent was tapping as Kirilenko was tapping on the canvas, therefore he kept the hold.
Darmaki went on to explain his altercation with Marc Goddard. He said he thought the guy who pulled him was Kirilenko and decided to tighten the grip. As for the assault, he said he was triggered because Goddard was swearing on him. However, Darmaki admitted that he was overreacting and shouldn’t have attacked Goddard.
At the end of the video, Darmaki apologized to everyone involved and dared UAE Warriors to provide better pictures and sound to prove his words.