Abel Trujillo will be appealing his loss to Gleison Tibau from last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 77 event in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Trujillo’s camp has requested the required paperwork from the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission in order to file an appeal following what seemed to be a premature stoppage on a submission attempt from Tibau.
The Brazilian had been controlling Trujillo for a significant portion of the round up until the finish, with Tibau attacking for a rear naked choke. However, Trujillo did not tap, and referee Keith Peterson stepped in thinking Trujillo had gone unconscious, only for Trujillo to immediately protest. Upon replay, it appeared Tibau was losing the hold, and Trujillo was getting space to escape and avoid that particular submission, but the call stood as a submission loss.
For Trujillo’s case, the next step will be on the commission to contact Peterson, and they will only review the case if he’s not confident in the call he made that night. However, if he says he stands by the call he made, they will not hear the appeal.
Penick’s Analysis: It’s a little ridiculous that they won’t review it without the referee admitting to a potential mistake. The lack of evaluation and accountability for referees and judges in the sport is a significant issue, because when mistakes are made, nothing seems to happen. With that said, Peterson should realize he made a mistake here given how the sequence played out, so Trujillo should be getting this case reviewed. Now he’ll just have to wait to see if that happens.
Leave a Reply