Ion Cutelaba wants loss to Ankalaev overturned: ‘I had one of the worst calls in UFC history happen against me’

Ion Cutelaba hopes his controversial TKO loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC on ESPN+ 27 in Norfolk, Va., is overturned by the commission.

[autotag]Ion Cutelaba[/autotag] had his fight with [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] stopped controversially this past Saturday.

Cutelaba (15-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) suffered a TKO loss to Ankalaev (13-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) on the UFC on ESPN+ 27 main card in Norfolk, Va. Many observers thought referee Kevin MacDonald made a mistake stopping the fight with Cutelaba wobbled, but still standing.

Ankalaev threw a head kick, followed by an array of strikes that appeared to rock Cutelaba and prompted MacDonald to stop the fight, thinking Cutelaba was out on his feet. He waved the fight off just 38 seconds in.

An enraged Cutelaba immediately contested the stoppage, baffled at the referee’s decision to intervene. He posted on Instagram to defend his case, hoping the commission overturns the loss.

“Tonight I was denied a chance to Show my work to the fans. Refereeing is a very hard job and tonight a mistake took away months of hard work and possible income from my family. I know that the comission will be able to understand that this was a incorrect call and will reverse the decision. Nobody wins in a situation like this, the fans lost on watching What could be the fight of the night, my opponent had a contestable win that will be overturned and I had one of the worst calls in @ufc history happen against me. I appreciate all the support from the fans in Norfolk, back home and all over the world. I will be back and I believe that we will together be able to correct this injustice.”

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Tonight I was denied a chance to Show my work to the fans. Reffering is a very hard job and tonight a mistake took away months of hard work and possible income from my family. I know that the comission will be able to understand that this was a incorrect call and will reverse the decision. Nobody wins in a situation like this, the fans lost on watching What Could be the fight of the Night, my opponent had a contestable win that will be overturned and I had one of the worst calls in @ufc history happen Against me. I apreciate all the support from the fans in Norfolk, back home and all ofer the world. I will be back and I believe that We will together be able to correct this injustice. ————————————— În această seară mi s-a refuzat șansa de a-mi arăta fanilor munca mea. Arbitraju este o muncă foarte grea și în această seară o greșeală a scos luni de muncă grele și venituri posibile familiei mele. Știu că comisia va putea înțelege că acesta a fost un apel incorect și va inversa decizia. Nimeni nu câștigă într-o situație de genul acesta, fanii au pierdut sansa posibila de a viziona lupta nopții, adversarul meu a avut o victorie contestabilă și am avut una dintre cele mai rele decizii din istoria @ufc care sa întâmplat împotriva mea. Am apreciat tot sprijinul din partea fanilor din Norfolk, înapoi acasă și tuturor oferite lumii. Voi reveni și cred că împreună vom fi capabili să corectăm această nedreptate.

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Following the fight, Ankalaev said he has no real interest in running things back, but would accept the fight if the UFC offered it. Cutelaba didn’t necessarily call for a rematch, but has made it clear he wants the questionable loss overturned.

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