At UFC Fight Night 128 Ricky Simon earned a controversial TKO victory over Merab Dvalishvili.
Dvalishvili looked to be on his way to a split decision victory prior to Simon grabbing a guillotine with nearly 1 minute left in the fight.
Dvalishvili appeared to keep his legs moving until the end of the third round. While Dvalishvili got the victory via on the scorecards, the fight was ruled a TKO victory for Simon.
Just to add onto this one: Merab Dvalishvili def. Ricky Simon 29-28, 28-27, 29-28 on the scorecards before the fight was declared a TKO. #UFCAC pic.twitter.com/QKYVW1xNXj
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) April 22, 2018
Here is a full recap of the fight via Cole Henry:
Round 1: Dvalishvili lands a big right hand to start the fight. He’s throwing some wild strikes, lots of spinning strikes. Dvalishvili gets a quick takedown but can’t keep Simon down for long. Head kick landed by Dvalishvili, and he follows it up with a nice combination. Dvalishvili is keeping an insane pace right now, and he drops Simon with a big right hand! Simon is up but Dvalishvili is chasing him down! He completes a takedown, and Simon is taking a beating here. I did not do this round justice. It was hard to keep up with the pace. 10-9 Dvalishvili
Round 2: Simon is coming out much more aggressive than he did in the first. He just misses with a spinning back fist. Both guys are throwing but neither is landing. Dvalishvili gets a takedown, and briefly goes for the back but Simon shakes him and makes him pay with a knee. Dvalishvili over extends on a punch and Simon gets a nice takedown. They don’t stay down long and they’re back in the center. Dvalishvili gets a quick takedown but Simon pops right back up. Big right-hand lands for Dvalishvili but Simon is hanging tough with 15 seconds left. Dvalishvili gets another takedown as the round ends. 10-9 Dvalishvili
Round 3: They’re trading jabs in the center to start the round. Simon gets a takedown, first notable moment of the round. Simon is in half guard and trying to pass. He’s looking for an arm-triangle but Dvalishvili escapes to his feet. Dvalishvili is looking for a takedown but can’t quite get it. Both men are tired. Nice uppercut but Dvalishvili and he gets a takedown, but Simon catches him in a guillotine and its deep! 30 seconds left and Dvalishvili is caught, his face is turning red, but he’s fighting it. 15 seconds left! 10 seconds! Dvalishvili is going to survive! That choke was deep and that’s something you need to see for yourselves. 10-9 Simon (29-28 Dvalishvili)
The commission is in the cage, I think they are discussing the finish. They might be saying Dvalishvili was out, but I can’t tell right now. He appeared to survive, I don’t see how they can say it was a stoppage, but we’ll see. The replay shows that it was close…hard to tell if he was out or not but its going to decision. They ruled it a TKO victory for Ricky Simon at 5:00 minutes of the third round. Very strange finish there, not sure why it was a TKO, but I guess its because they decided the finish after the fight. Weird. I think the commission should review this
Result: Ricky Simon def. Merab Dvalishvili via TKO Round 3, 5:00
Here is video of the closing sequence.
https://twitter.com/UFCONFOX/status/987868805887016960
Follow the entire card live right here.
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