Michael Chiesa will keep the loss given to him by Kevin Lee in the main event of UFC Fight Night 112 last month.
Chiesa appealed his stoppage loss to Lee after referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the contest seemingly prematurely, which resulted in a first-round submission win for Lee, but the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) has not granted him a hearing.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported the news Thursday. Also, MMAFighting.com obtained a document detailing the appeal’s denial.
It appeared that Chiesa never tapped out or fully went unconscious while defending a rear-naked choke from Lee, which is why he appealed the stoppage. The UFC lightweight also noted what he thought to be illegal 12-to-6 elbows from Lee in his official appeal.
According to the document, which included a letter from OSAC executive director Joe Miller that was sent to Chiesa, the OSAC decided at a July 12 meeting that there was “not enough evidence to overturn the referee’s decision.” Yamasaki backed up his stoppage even weeks after the bout, saying he was very confident Chiesa was unconscious when he called the fight off.
“In the referee’s opinion just prior to the stoppage your hands stopped defending the choke, were in mid-air, wobbly and limp, and were moving towards your waist,” Miller wrote. “This is confirmed by watching the tape in super slow motion.”
Chiesa explained when he first appealed the referee stoppage that he relaxed in attempt to reduce the pressure from Lee’s submission hold and to eventually escape the position. But Miller said in response that there was no way Yamasaki would or should know that that was what “Maverick” was doing.
Miller did respond to Chiesa’s claim of the 12-to-6 elbows; he said that they were indeed illegal, but did not affect the result of the fight, and therefore did not warrant a no contest. He added that he “addressed the mistake” with Yamasaki.
Chiesa hadn’t fought in over a year prior to the Lee fight. The submission loss snapped an impressive three-fight winning streak, which included an upset stoppage win over Beneil Dariush in April 2016.
Editor’s Note: We initially said Kevin Lee was coaching The Ultimate Fighter 26 opposite Eddie Alvarez. Justin Gaethje is, not Lee. We regret the error and have updated the story accordingly.