Several UFC fighters were quick to accuse a colleague of faking it at UFC Atlanta.
Rodolfo Bellato was seemingly knocked out by Paul Craig‘s accidental illegal upkick during their scrap on Saturday night.
The light heavyweight matchup rearranged due to a herpes outbreak was ultimately declared a no-contest.
However, many skeptical fans have accused Bellato of flopping to try to cheat his way to a DQ win.
- READ MORE: Paul Craig responds to claims his opponent ‘flopped’ KO that led to no-contest at UFC Atlanta
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Slow-motion footage shows Bellato awake and complaining to the referee after taking the kick.
Once he hits the floor, the Brazilian lies motionless for a moment before popping back to life and trying to grapple with the referee.
Former interim lightweight Justin Gaethje was one of the many UFC stars who didn’t buy the act.
“Biggest flop in mma history,” he declared.
“Bro! That’s the biggest flop in UFC HISTORY,” flyweight contender Charles Johnson insisted.
“What the heck was that ? Was that a legit flop in the UFC? A confused Chris Weidman asked.
“Bro wtf!!! He fell looking to the referee lol and then was out,” Renato Moicano tweeted.
Anthony Smith flames Rodolfo Bellato
Recently retired 205lb veteran Anthony Smith was on desk duty at UFC Atlanta.
It’s safe to say ‘Lionheart’ agreed with the consensus that Bellato feigned injury against Craig.
“Listen, guys: I’m going to be hard on Bellato,” Smith began.
“As the upkick happens, he looks to the referee to see if the referee realized that was illegal.
“You see his eyes come to the referee to protest, and then realizes, ‘Maybe I can get a free win.’ Lays there, pretends he’s unconscious, jolts back awake, allegedly. The referee comes over. That is a man that is awake. Pretends to grapple the referee as if he’s unconscious, trying to get a cheap win.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I know what it looks like when somebody is faking it.”
As his broadcast partners joked about the situation, Smith doubled down on his criticism of Bellato.
He added: “I feel really bad for Paul Craig.
“We’re laughing about it and joking because it is so silly what happened here with Rodolfo Bellato and Paul Craig.
“But Paul Craig, although he did break the rules, we have to acknowledge that he did break the rules, it wasn’t intentional, but that’s a fight that seemingly could have continued.
“I’m not gonna pretend I’m in his head and I know how bad it actually did hurt, he definitely was not unconscious and hurt as bad as he was pretending, that’s for sure.”