What’s the strangest reason why a UFC fighter has been disqualified from a fight, or been removed completely by the promotion for something that happened in the octagon?
Well, Bloody Elbow would argue that the single craziest DQ occurred earlier this year, when Brazilian Igor Severino bit his opponent at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Ribas – yet the disgraced flyweight’s MMA career is far from over.
UFC fighter who was cut for biting opponent announces return to MMA
Brazilian flyweight Igor Severino was disqualified from his UFC fight in March when he bit opponent Andre Lima on the arm; Lima hilariously got the bite-mark tattooed onto his bicep, prompting Dana White to up his post-fight bonus to $50,000.
That was the first loss of Severino’s professional MMA career and his last bout in the organization – being quickly cut by the promotion just a few hours later, with White noting that “he’s going to have real problems with the NSAC.”
White was right, Severino was subsequently fined by the NSAC and suspended until December 23rd – his return to the octagon has just been announced for December 29th at Oktagon 65.
“Hey guys, Igor here. I will make my debut in OKTAGON MMA against Jonas Mågård,” the 8-1 flyweight stated via social media.
“I’m very excited for the fight, I can’t wait to go there and put on a show for everybody… Jonas, I see you soon, I’m ready. December 29th, let’s go!”
Whilst Severino was slammed by the global MMA community for the bite that ended his UFC tenure, the 21-year-old was extremely apologetic in his response, stating that “It’s not who I am as a person” to MMA Junkie.
“To see all of this go away and in the way it did, it’s something that is not part of me. It’s not who I am as a person. That’s not who I am as a fighter. I just feel very regretful. It makes me very emotional and sad about it.
“My dream became a nightmare overnight. I’m very regretful to my opponent. I apologize to [Lima], to Dana [White], to the Nevada Athletic Commission, to Sean Shelby, who spoke to me after the fight, to Mick [Maynard] – everyone in the organization – and the fans. Sorry to everyone who was watching that on TV. They didn’t deserve to see that.”
Oktagon MMA founders claim multi-million-dollar UFC buy-out is ‘inevitable’
In a recent interview with Czech Crunch, the founders of Oktagon MMA revealed that they plan on selling out two enormous shows at the Allianz Arena in Germany (home of FC Bayern Munich) and the Santiago Bernabéu (home of Real Madrid FC) in Spain.
“We want to go to the Bayern Munich football stadium, the Allianz Arena, we promised ourselves we would definitely do that,” stated co-founder Ondřej Novotný, adding “The Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid could also be filled.”
The pair hope that by successfully landing and hosting such enormous stadium shows, they could tempt the UFC into making a deal to purchase the European MMA giant.
“They either have to destroy us or acquire us,” the co-founders teased, claiming that the TV rights for Oktagon MMA could be worth up to one billion Czech Crowns (approx. $41 million) within three years.
“Oktagon is still our baby, which we can still equip for the future somehow. But the end is inevitable… Honestly, the best thing would be to build it up nicely so then the UFC would come in and buy us. Unlike some other organizations in the UFC, they’re not cocky.”
Ironically, this could be the only way for Severino to fight under the UFC banner once again; as stated by Novotný, “They are the kings of our world.”
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