‘Triple C’ looked on with envy as the former champion tuned into the UFC 313 prelims on March 8.
Henry Cejudo’s fight with Song Yadong ended in disappointing fashion as the Olympic gold medallist looked to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
The main event of UFC Seattle several weeks ago was decided by a technical decision following worrying claims from Cejudo after a significant eye poke.
Conversation surrounding eye pokes continued the following weekend at UFC Vegas 103 and in European promotion Cage Warriors where the main event on the same night as UFC 313 ended in a no contest.
With some calling for referees to punish fighters more significantly for fouls, we saw exactly that during the prelims inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Henry Cejudo reacts to Armen Petrosyan being deducted a point at UFC 313
In the fourth fight of the night at UFC 313, Brazil’s Bruno Ferreira earned his fourth finish inside the Octagon when he handed Armen Petrosyan his third consecutive loss.
The Brazilian pulled off a slick armbar in the second round to get the tap for his first submission win since signing to the UFC in 2022.
Though Petrosyan did seemingly get away with a fence grab in the second round, referee Mark Smith didn’t let a significant low blow go unnoticed.
The Armenian striker fouled Ferreira with a low kick only to do it again less than 30 seconds later once the fight was restarted which led to him being deducted a point.
Whilst it didn’t end up influencing the final result, Smith looked to even out the fight after Ferreira endured back-to-back fouls.
In a post on social media which was flagged on the UFC broadcast, Henry Cejudo made reference to his fight with Song Yadong which was refereed by Jason Herzog.
Fans thrilled to see a foul penalized at UFC 313
Whether it is an eye poke, fence grab or low blow, fans have felt for a long time that these potentially fight altering fouls are not enforced enough.
Though Mark Smith didn’t have much of an option after Armen Petrosyan landed two groin kicks in quick succession, it was refreshing to see a UFC official react quickly with a significant action.
That may not be a consistent trend going forward but it is a step in the right direction to try and decrease the amount of fouls.
“Petrosyan fouling, faking fouls, grabbing the fence. Dude is just a lame,” wrote one fan on social media with many calling for him to be cut from the roster after going 3-4 inside the Octagon.