Michael David Smith at MMA Fighting says the fight should have never gone to the second round:
The horn sounded, ending what was supposed to be a five-minute round after 4 minutes, 53 seconds. … Falcao may have been confused because the round ended just a couple seconds after he heard the 10-second warning.
Home viewers may not have noticed because the UFC’s TV producers typically remove the clock from the corner of the screen in the last few seconds of the round, but there’s no question that the first round ended seven seconds early, and it’s doubtful that Harris could have withstood another seven seconds of Falcao’s choke without either tapping out or passing out.
It’s now incumbent on the UFC and the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission need to undertake a thorough investigation of what went wrong and why. Whether it was foul play on the part of a timekeeper who wanted Harris to win or simply an honest mistake that happened at a terrible time for Falcao, clock errors of that kind simply can’t be tolerated.
HT: Ivan Canello