Randa Markos has taken Luana Pinheiro to task for her reaction to the foul that ended their fight at UFC Vegas 25 on Saturday night.
Markos and Pinheiro fought in the featured preliminary fight of the evening. What started off as a solid fight between the two strawweights would soon be marred by controversy after a series of fouls occurred. Markos was poked in the eye several times by Pinheiro, who was verbally warned by referee Mark Smith. One of those eye pokes prompted a break in the action so Markos could be attended to by the cageside physician, but she signaled to both him and the referee that she wanted to continue.
The fight restarted and Markos came forward with a barrage of punches that forced Pinheiro to back up against the cage. The Brazilian was able to compose herself and get Markos to the ground with a Judo throw, but it would only be for a short amount of time. In an attempt to separate from Pinheiro, Markos threw — and landed — an upkick to the face of her opponent, which caused her to fall back to the canvas in a dazed manner.
Not only was the upkick illegal since it was dealt to a grounded opponent but it was also deemed intentional by Markos and she was disqualified. “Quiet Storm” was upset by the way the fight ended as well as the reaction of Pinheiro.
She elaborated on this on social media in her first post-fight comments on Sunday night.
“I’ve been in the fight game for a while now,” wrote Markos on Instagram “I’ve never intentionally thrown a illegal blow. It’s a fight, shit is bound to happen. I took three eye pokes (requiring stitches and loss of vision) and never thought for a second that I wasn’t going to continue. I had such a good camp training with @travislutter, @cdpowertrain and @adams.justin1 in Texas and was ready to showcase my skills for the greatest fight promotion in the world. Yes my foot grazed her but that my opponents Inability to continue seemed a bit oversold and suspect. I let her know after the eye poke that I wasn’t leaving that cage without a win and she stole that from me.
“I’m excited about whatever is next,” Markos continued. “I have a tone of heart in me that needs to be let out. Thank you to everyone that helped me with this camp. I love you all and I’ll be back soon.”
Fans and pundits alike have shared the same sentiment as Markos. Still, the disqualification stands and marks her fourth straight loss in the UFC. Markos’ last win came against Ashley Yoder at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Askren in 2019.
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