Cole Miller's appeal of loss to Manvel Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 26 is denied

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

UFC Featherweight Cole Miller lost a unanimous decision to Manny Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen on August 16 in Boston. Miller felt Gamburyan should have been counted out at the end of the first round when he required more than a minute to recover from (legal) elbows to the head.

Miller filed an appeal with the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission. His appeal has been denied according to a post on Miller’s web site:

I recently filed an appeal with the state of Massachusetts Athletic Commission (sic) for what I feel is an obvious violation of the rules as stated in Massachusetts handbook for Mixed Martial Arts and Unarmed Combat. This violation… also obviously… changed the outcome of my fight against Manny Gamburyan.

My appeal was denied due to, “inconclusive evidence.” The only way to come to this decision would be to completely ignore the crystal clear VIDEO EVIDENCE.

It is my opinion that if the same athletic commission were trying to find a fighter guilty of a rule infraction – the exact same level of evidence would have been deemed OVERWHELMING.

For that reason, I would like to give the details of my appeal.

Here is the breakdown of what happened in between the first and second round of my bout with Manny Gamburyan this past August in Boston.
The appeal was to the decision to let the fight continue after more than 2 minutes had gone by when a fighter is to receive 1 minute. If the fighter can not continue after one minute the fight must be stopped.

You can see all the rules for which I am citing at the bottom.

The TS and the lengthy numbers are referring to Timestamps which references video provided by the UFC of the bout.

Also, I wasn’t allowed to argue this, but the judges gave Manny Gamburyan the decision, one giving him the nod for every single round. I was told by Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta I had won the fight. All major MMA websites scored the play by play for me 30-27 winning every round.

Regarding that last claim, here’s what MMA Decisions has down for major MMA media scores of the fight:

Jason Floyd TheMMAReport.com 30-27 Gamburyan
Nathan McCarter BleacherReport.com 30-27 Gamburyan
Chuck Mindenhall MMAFighting.com 30-27 Gamburyan
Adam Martin Sportsnet.ca 29-28 Gamburyan
TJ DeSantis Sherdog.com 29-28 Gamburyan
MMAWeekly.com 29-28 Gamburyan
MMAJunkie.com 28-29 Miller
Craig Amos BleacherReport.com 28-29 Miller
Jordan Breen Sherdog.com 28-29 Miller
Chris Nelson Sherdog.com 27-30 Miller

Miller goes on to itemize 8 rules he believes were violated by the decision.

I have to express a certain amount of sympathy here for Miller. The blows were legal and Gamburyan was clearly given more than a minute to recover.

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About the author

Nate Wilcox

Nate Wilcox is the founding editor of BloodyElbow.com. As such he has hired every editor and writer to work for the site. Wilcox’s writing for BE is known for its emphasis on MMA history, the evolution of fighting techniques and strong opinions. Wilcox developed the SBN MMA consensus rankings which were featured in USA Today from 2009 to 2011. Before founding BE, Wilcox was a political operative working for such figures as Senators John Kerry and Mark Warner and an early political blogger. He is the co-author of Netroots Rising, a history of the political blogosphere from 2003 to 2007. Wilcox also hosts the Let It Roll podcast on music history for the Pantheon Podcast Network.

Cole Miller’s appeal of loss to Manvel Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 26 is denied

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