Fans absolutely laid into Rodolfo Bellato following his fight against Paul Craig at UFC Atlanta this past Saturday.
The premier promotion returned to Atlanta this past Saturday for UFC Atlanta, headlined by a welterweight fight between Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley.
Usman incredibly returned to the win column, snapping his three-fight losing skid after dominating Buckley for five rounds.
However, it was a fight between Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato on the prelims that caused a lot of controversy and led to fans utterly slamming the Brazilian.
John McCarthy chimes in on controversial UFC Atlanta moment
Craig and Bellato were scheduled to fight a few weeks ago but Bellato was removed from the fight just minutes from his scheduled walkout after contracting herpes.
Despite that, the two were rescheduled to meet just a few weeks later at UFC Atlanta in what guaranteed to be an intriguing stylistic clash.
After landing a big takedown on the Scottish fighter, Bellato controlled Craig on the ground and looked to dominate him with his top pressure.
However, with just a few seconds left of the round, Craig landed an illegal up-kick that sent the Brazilian flying backwards onto the canvas.
As Bellato was flying back, he appeared to gesticulate towards the referee before then flopping to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Because of his change in demeanour from speaking to the ref to then looking unconscious, fans utterly flamed Bellato online, calling a dive.
Not only that, but some fans even claimed that the strike may not have been illegal due to the UFC’s recent rule change regarding downed opponents. However, legendary referee John McCarthy has offered his thoughts on the no-contest decision.
“One knee on the ground makes him a grounded fighter that cannot legally be kicked or kneed to the face or head from that position,” McCarthy responded to a fan on X.
“The rule was recently changed. It used to be that you could put a hand down and you were considered a grounded fighter. Now your feet and hands have nothing to do with you being a grounded fighter.
“A knee on the ground has always made you a grounded fighter,” he continued.
Paul Craig responds to claims that Bellato ‘flopped’
Frustratingly for Craig, he has waited several months for this fight to happen following last-minute cancelations, and it still ended in completely unceremonious fashion.
Despite the wide consensus being that Bellato faked being unconscious, Craig has given him the benefit of the doubt, stating that he doesn’t want to think any fighter would take a five.