Former UFC fighter Kenny Florian, veteran coach Ray Longo and commentator Jon Anik debate the controversial ending to key UFC Denver fight.
It didn’t take long for controversy to rear its ugly head once again as the main card opener at UFC Denver last night ended unceremoniously after middleweight veteran Cody Brundage was struck on the back of the head.
Controversy erupts at UFC Denver fight over illegal strikes
After barely surviving the early blitz from opponent Abdul Razak Alhassan, Cody Brundage was only seconds away from suffering the third KO/TKO loss of his career when ‘Judo Thunder’ started throwing shots that kept landing closer and closer to the back of the head.
After one too many shots strayed into foul territory, referee Dan Miragliotta called a halt to the action and gave Brundage several minutes to recover; however, the veteran American told the ringside physician that he couldn’t continue.
As the fight was ruled a No Contest, MMA legends Jon Anik, Ray Longo and Kenny Florian were hosting a watch party for the UFC Denver event – and it’s safe to say that the controversial stoppage was a keen point of discussion for the group.
MMA legends debate controversial stoppage at UFC Denver
If you look at MMA social media, there seems to be a definitive split in the fanbase between those who believe the illegal shots warranted the fight being stopped (and in turn, a DQ win for Brundage), and those who think that Brundage had exaggerated the impact.
During the Anik and Florian watch party, streamed live via their official YouTube channel, the controversial finish to the Alhassan versus Brundage fight was brought up; with former UFC fighter Kenny Florian arguing that the American middleweight had made the right call in choosing not to continue the fight.
“It’s tough man, I think when the stakes are that high… You don’t want to go into a fight being that messed up, it’s already a difficult fight and sport so why would you put yourself at that kind of tremendous disadvantage?
“It sucks, no one wants to see a fight end [like that], especially after putting in all that hard work – thank God I was never in that situation – but yeah man, it’s tough and I think he probably made the right decision in not to go forward [with the fight].”
UFC commentator and helmsman of the broadcast booth Jon Anik echoed many of the same points made by Florian in his take, although he also chose to focus on the explanation of such circumstances from a media member’s perspective.
“This puts a commentator in a position where you’re paid to be critical and Dominick Cruz is wondering aloud if you’re Cody Brundage, do you tough it out prioritizing and chasing an MMA win or do you take the DQ?
“You’re trying to simultaneously not disrespect an athlete while also trying to outline to the masses what exactly is going on – and you’re not in Brundage’s head whether you can continue but there are a lot of guys like ‘I need a green stripe on my Wikipedia page’ and tonight a No Contest isn’t good enough, even if I’m partially concussed from an illegal blow.”
Ray Longo, who has coached multiple world champions down the years, understandably took the side of Brundage; noting that he’s seen far too many illegal shots leading to injuries and health scares to justify the fighter continuing.
“Listen man, those back-of-the-head shots are f***** brutal, you can get hit there and go blind so I wouldn’t want my guy fighting if he’s not healthy enough to fight in that situation because bad things are going to happen.
“Only Cody Brundage knows what really happened and what he was feeling but I can tell you, getting hit in the back of the head is illegal for a reason and I’ve seen some bad s*** happen with that.”
With the bout being ruled a No Contest, Brundage remains at 10-6 as a professional with Alhassan also retaining his 12-6 record – it’s unclear whether the UFC will choose to re-book the fight for a later date.
What do you think – was a ‘No Contest’ the right call to make?