Fighter Cheats Way Out Of Submission: Fakes Tap

Benny A. King

UFC is back with the first event of 2022. The main event of the evening certainly stole the show – however some minor players should not be forgotten.

Earlier in the show the promotion matched up Brandon Royval with Rogerio Bontorin. The two had somewhat of an even fight – that is if we disregard this key moment.

https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/1482531604962545667

You can see Bontorin tapping the leg of Royval once – while Royval is trying to apply the armbar submission. Due to the nature of jiu jitsu – a tap is somewhat of a conditional reaction that leads to winding down the submission in order not to hurt the opponent since they ‘surrendered’.

But Bontorin then opted to keep going instead of keep tapping – even the ref appeared fooled as he was seen rushing to finish the fight but then saw the action continue. Plenty of key MMA analysts agree.

An alternative angle of the action was also shared.

Many questioned if the footage showcase a case of the Brazilian tap a name given to the fake tap – or if this was misconstrued.

 

Final result: Brandon Royval by split decision over Rogerio Bontorin