A strange victory and an even stranger celebration caught the attention of MMA fans’ earound the Globe. The event was on an MMA series 55 card.
Tajikistani athlete Bakhtovar Yunusov scored a victory against Magomed Kadiev in a bantamweight bout where things went wrong both during the finishing sequence and during the victory celebration.
During the second round, Yunusov tried a kick to the side of his opponent’s face, who blocked it. After this, both fell to the mat. Yunusov and Kadiev showcased their ground work, and while Kadiev tried to apply a guillotine from the top. Yunusov wanted to reverse it and went on top. Before Kadiev understood what was going on, Yunusov applied the Von flue choke.
The referee’s reaction is what sets this apart from any other Von Flue finish. Things started go awry when Yunusov applied the Von flue choke, and the referee noticed that Kadiev had passed out. So, he separated the two. When Yunusov released his hold, the referee checked on Kadiev and suggested that the bout was still on.
Yunusov then went wild brawling to get the victory via referee stoppage.
The story does not end here. The most embarrassing part of the whole event came after its conclusion. When the referee stopped it, Yunusov ran to celebrate the victory. In the excitement, he tried to celebrate with a backflip.
The Dominator could not execute it well and fell on his face. His face-planting moment was well received by everyone in the arena and on social media. People are sharing the clip with funny captions.
This MMA event is a perfect example of why there’s a need for regulation across the board. The faceplant aside, it’s unacceptable for an MMA referee to be oblivious to the effect of a submission. Small MMA promotions must provide proper training before bringing on refs to officiate contests.
But, regardless of the viral moment – it provided Yunusov with a valuable victory. Bakhtovar Yunusov scored his 8th straight victory in MMA and has yet to suffer a loss. In his last eight , he won six via referee stoppage, which is why he is called “The Dominator.”