Muin Gafurov suffered a memorable loss at UFC Vegas 113, one he’ll likely regret for some time.
According to Gafurov’s teammate, former bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, he only tapped out at the very last second of his fight with Jakub Wiklacz because he thought the fight had already ended. Gafurov and Dvalishvili gave their side of the story in a clip released to social media.
“I heard a bell,” Gafurov said. “I was thinking, ‘Why you not open? What the f*ck? Open!’ But it was ringing.”
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Gafurov appears to suggest that he was confused as to why Wiklacz did not immediately release a tight guillotine choke as soon as the bell sounded to end Round 3, so he tapped in protest. However, replays showed Gafurov tapping out a full second before the bell could clearly be heard.
Dvalishvili attempted to clarify the situation with his interpretation of Gafurov’s explanation.
“How he’s saying, how I understand, he’s saying first he said, ‘Good,’ and then when he heard the bell, he tapped,” Dvalishvili said. “That’s unfortunate. Congratulations to Jakub. I don’t have nothing against him, he’s a good fighter, but that’s my brother Muin telling me.
“He’s never tapped to a choke, but it’s unfortunate. I just want to show you guys what happened. I hope you guys enjoyed this fight and my brother he’s going to come back.”
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If there’s anyone who knows what it means to bounce back from a controversial submission, it’s Dvalishvili.
Back in April 2018, Dvalishvili made his second UFC appearance against fellow up-and-coming bantamweight Ricky Simon. Dvalishvili was winning the fight until he ended up in, coincidentally enough, a mounted guillotine in the third round. As time ticked away on the fight, Dvalishvili looked to be in trouble and may have even passed out, but the bell rang before referee Liam Kerrigan had stepped in to stop the fight.
It was only afterward that it was ruled that Dvalishvili had lost consciousness and the bout was ruled a technical submission in Simon’s favor.
Watch the incident below.
Dvalishvili and his team later attempted to appeal the result, but Kerrigan’s decision was upheld.
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That would be the last loss for Dvalishvili for some team as he went on a 14-fight win streak that included four straight bantamweight championship fight victories, a streak that only recently came to an end with Dvalishvili dropping his title to Petr Yan at UFC 323.
Time will tell if Gafurov—who also missed weight for Saturday’s fight by five pounds—can enjoy a similar reversal of fortunes.
