Most fighters, especially those in dangerous combat sports, wouldn’t think twice to give up the moment they know they couldn’t escape a lock or submission. After all the ability to keep earning money for themselves and their family depends on it. They do this because trying to resist would result with them being seriously injured and unable to compete for a long time.
However, Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) featherweight champion, Pat Sabatini, refused to tap when defending his title against the challenger James Gonzales. Perhaps borrowing a page from the Tony Ferguson book.
In the last seconds of the first round, Gonzales managed to put Sabatini in a lock by grabbing Sabatini’s arm in a particularly nasty hold. Sabatini, who was fighting an underdog on short notice, refused to tap out. That decision led to his arm getting bent backward and eventually broken.
Once the arm was visibly misshapen the ref stepped in and halted the fight. Gonzales was announced as the winner via arm injury aka technical knockout. Pat Sabatini had to go home without the title and with a nasty arm injury to boot.
Yikes. #CFFC81 pic.twitter.com/KLwGE4ggkn
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) February 2, 2020
Some fighters refuse to tap because they see it as dishonorable or because they don’t want to give their opponent the satisfaction of beating them. Gonzales wished a fast recovery for Sabatini.
“First, I would like to say I wish that didn’t happen. I wish he could have tapped and saved his arm from breaking like that. But we fought him tonight, and this is what happened. But I wish him a speedy recovery.” Gonzales told MMA Junkies.
Ezra Samuel is a passionate freelance writer with a particular love for covering MMA news. His interest in the sport dates back to his college days, and he has since established himself as a respected voice in the MMA community. Over the years, Ezra has contributed his writing to a variety of digital outlets, including the popular site calfkicker.