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This weekend’s UFC 294 was a big card held in a small country (Abu Dhabi) with no athletic commission which left the UFC running all the details themselves.
As our own Zane Simon editorialized post-event, there were numerous incidents involving fighter health, referee calls and especially two fights that came to controversial endings based on the decisions of the ring-side physicians. In particular, there was an epic bad-call involving a low blow in the Victor Henry vs. Javid Basharat fight that will live in infamy as long as MMA fans can feel sympathy pains for a man kicked right in the cup.
Doctor creates controversy at UFC 294
In the heat of the moment, there was a little bit of confusion over the incident. The instant replays of the low blow were obscured and the ringside doctor told Henry he didn’t get kicked in the balls.
The chaos surrounding the decision certainly looks like that might just be the basis of an appeal by either or both fighters. But so far, only one of the fighters has announced his intention to appeal the No Contest ruling.
Javid Basharat planning to appeal UFC 294 ‘no contest’
According to his posts on social media, Javid Basharat thinks Victor Henry was faking it and isn’t shy about saying so
“I won by TKO today 100%,” Basharat wrote in an entry to his Instagram. “I tried to give the benefit of the doubt but I know what I felt in there and watching it over 1000 times there was no way that was low! Swipe to see the proof!! Check my story too!
“I had my timing I was speaking to him the whole time in there and we both knew I was gonna finish him in that round 2. I made the veteran quit. I am the boogeyman of this division. I will be appealing this ASAP!”
Henry’s coach Josh Barnett gave updates from the hospital, but Basharat still believes Henry faked the injury. After Barnett responded directly to Basharat’s accusations, the ‘Snow Leopard’ even went so far as to demand a copy of the medical report.
Who does Basharat even appeal to
UFC boss Dana White blamed the seemingly inexplicable stoppage in the Johnny Walker vs Magomed Ankalaev bout on an inexperienced ringside physician. Coincidentally that was the same doctor who seemed confused about the location of Henry’s frank and beans. Additionally, multiple fighters on the UFC 294 card openly talked about having fought with undetected staph infections.
All of these circumstances arose while the UFC was pulling double duty as both fight promoter and athletic commission.
This might very well mean that Basharat has no option for appeal if the UFC feels satisfied that Henry’s groin was injured by the strike.
Victor Henry shares update about his health
While he understandably has some fears about possible long-term damage, it appears Henry will be okay. Amy Kaplan tweeted his statement from the hospital:
“A little update for you guys, doctors said no permanent damage to my pills but I’m gonna walk a little funny for a couple days,” Henry wrote. “Swelling has gone down a significant amount after sleeping with ice on my smooth criminals which isn’t very easy to do.
“For those of you calling for a DQ don’t be ridiculous. I don’t think my opponent has ill intentions to kick my nuts, he threw a legal strike that just so happen to hit an illegal spot. Totally not his fault, but that’s MMA.”
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