Tag: CFFC 94

Fighter who suffered severed finger has bout result overturned

Khetag Pliev, the fighter who had his finger almost completely severed earlier this month, now officially has one less loss on his record.

[autotag]Khetag Pliev[/autotag], the fighter who had his finger almost completely severed in a Cage Fury Fighting Championships contest held earlier this month, now officially has one less loss on his record.

While the CFFC 94 bout was originally declared a TKO win for Pliev’s opponent, [autotag]Devin Goodale[/autotag], when the gruesome injury caused the fight to be called off at the end of the second round, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission has since reviewed the contest and elected to change the result.

“Upon extensive review of all the videos, talking with the referee and physicians cornering the bout and discussions held with both fighters, I have determined to change the official decision of this bout to a NO DECISION,” PSAC executive direction Greg Sirb wrote in an official directive issued Friday and obtained by MMA Junkie.

CFFC 94 took place at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia and streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

In one of the more bizarre incidents in recent memory, Pliev returned to his corner at the end of his second round and motioned to his cornermen that something was wrong with his left hand. As cameras zoomed in on the action, it appeared his left ring finger was completely missing.

Officials inside the cage saw exposed bone from the severed finger and immediately waved off the contest, rushing Pliev to the hospital, where the finger – which had bent completely backwards and nearly snapped off but was still lodged inside the glove – was successfully reattached.

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Video review of the fight showed that during a grappling exchange in the second round, Goodale inadvertently pulled the glove over Pliev’s finger (which seemed to have been either broken or dislocated while blocking a kick earlier in the round), creating the pressure that ultimately severed the digit. While Pliev’s team had sought a disqualification win for contest, the commission ultimately felt a “no decision” was the proper result.

With the change in result, Pliev – a former Olympic wrestler and professional boxer – now stands at 5-1 in his MMA career. Goodale stands at 3-0.

Already back in training, Pliev has vowed to return to the cage as quickly as possible.

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Twitter reacts to insane MMA injury: Severed finger at CFFC 94

CFFC 94 played host to one of the freakier MMA injuries in recent memory, and it stirred quite the reaction on Twitter.

CFFC 94 on Thursday played host to one of the freakier MMA injuries in recent memory.

Khetag Pliev (5-2) had his left ring finger severed completely off his hand in his co-main event bout with Devin Goodale (4-0) in their 180-pound catchweight bout, which streamed on UFC Fight Pass from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

The finger came detached at some point during the fight, and was only noticed to be absent after the second round. The bout was halted, and it turned out Pliev’s glove had disconnected from his hand and gone inside of his glove. He was immediate taken into surgery.

To the surprise of no one, the graphic scene stirred quite a reaction from everyone watching. Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Pliev’s severed finger at CFFC 94.

‘His finger is gone’: Fighter suffers graphic severed finger at CFFC 94

“It wasn’t a compound fracture. It wasn’t a break. His finger is gone.”

Despite MMA being a noteworthy sport for more than two decades, there’s still the occasional time when something occurs that’s never been seen before.

That’s what went down Thursday at CFFC 94, when [autotag]Khetag Pliev[/autotag] had his left ring finger severed completely off his hand in his co-main event bout with Devin Goodale.

It was a crazy scene in the UFC Fight Pass-streamed bout from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. After the second round of the 180-pound catchweight contest was completed, Pliev (5-2) went back to his corner and there was some unusual panic from the doctor and cornerman.

Everyone soon came to the realization that Pliev’s finger was not sticking out of his glove as it should’ve been, and it was unclear what had happened to it (via Twitter):

The fight immediately wass waved off – with Goodale (4-0) the winner – and the search for Pliev’s finger began. The PA announcer told those in attendance that the appendage was missing, and cageside commentator CM Punk made a chilling statement.

“It wasn’t a compound fracture. It wasn’t a break. His finger is gone,” Punk said.

Upon further investigation of the tape, the issue appears to have stemmed from Goodale landing a series of kicks to Pliev’s hand. The kicks seemed to damage the finger, and the separation came during subsequent grappling exchanges and adjustments to the glove from Pliev (via Twitter):

At the conclusion of the main event, CFFC president Rob Haydak revealed the finger was found on the inside of Pliev’s glove. He was immediately transported to hospital, where it’s to be reattached.

Haydak posted a graphic image of Pliev’s hand as he left the venue (via Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNJWV0sJxZZ

Complete CFFC 94 results included:

  • Evan Cutts def. Bassil Hafez via split decision (49-46, 47-48, 48-47) – to win welterweight title
  • Devin Goodale def. Khetag Pliev via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 5:00
  • Solomon Renfro def. Nick Alley via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:30
  • Earl Small def. Adam Wamsley via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:05
  • Timothy Cuamba def. Frank Wells via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Jonathan Piersma def. Tommy Majeski via submission (omoplata) – Round 2, 0:49

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CFFC champ Bassil Hafez joins new team, says title win just the start

For some, winning a CFFC title might serve as proof of where one stands in the sport of MMA – but not for Bassil Hafez.

For some, winning a CFFC title might serve as proof of where one stands in the sport of MMA. But for [autotag]Bassil Hafez[/autotag], it was only a marker along the path of where he intends to be.

“To me, it was another step forward in improving and showing what I can do as a fighter in the cage,” Hafez said.

Hafez claimed CFFC’s welterweight crown in November, scoring an impressive first-round submission over a previously unbeaten Christien Savoie to win the vacant title. Hafez‘s impressive grappling skills were on full display, as he chained together transition after transition until he finally earned a tap with just 45 seconds left in the opening frame.

“In my head, I was thinking, ‘Damn, this round’s over,'” Hafez said. “I didn’t think I was going to land the upkick and he was going to come into my guard, but I took the opportunity when I saw it.”

It was a big moment in Hafez‘s career, and one of which he’s quite proud. But rather than rest on his laurels, Hafez took time to reflect and determine the best path to improving as a fighter. That led him to linking up with Denver’s famed Factory X, under the tutelage of Marc Montoya.

“I had to figure out things in my camp, in my training,” Hafez said. “I ended up switching things up and going to Denver thanks to Iridium, my management group. They connected me to coach Marc Montoya, and I’m really happy where I’m at right now.

“I’m very grateful for everything at Balance with Andy Russell and Ricardo Migliarese. I’ll always be a Balance black belt, a Ricardo Migliarese black belt, but I’m excited to see what I can do and advance as an MMA fighter overall, fight IQ, and just overall as a fighter. I’m learning so many things at Factory X and increasing my game in so many different ways.”

Hafez (6-1-1) will get a chance to show his improvement on Thursday, April 1, when puts his title on the line for the first time. Top-rated Texan Evan Cutts (11-4) steps in as a challenger at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena, and the two headline CFFC 94, which streams live on UFC Fight Pass as part of CFFC’s latest two-night event series.

Hafez said he’s excited for the challenge presented by Cutts, who has already faced a handful of UFC veterans in his career thus far.

“Evan Cutts is a tough guy, and I know what he’s going to bring, and I’m excited for it because I know what I’m going to bring is better, and I’m going to hopefully get a finish for this fight,” Hafez said. “He hasn’t been finished, but the last guy I fought hadn’t been beaten, so my goal is to get a finish and beat a guy who’s beaten guys who are in the UFC right now. Evan’s a tough guy, and I’m excited to hopefully finish him.”

If he can accomplish that goal, Hafez believes the sport’s biggest organizations will have to take notice. Already a proven submission threat, Hafez said his overall game is only getting better by the day, and he’s anxious to prove he belongs at the sport’s top level.

“There’s a lot of great fighters in the UFC, or Bellator, or ONE FC, but I know that I have what it takes to be able to beat up a lot of these top guys and hang in there with a lot of the top guys in the world, so I’m excited to continue growing as a fighter,” Hafez said. “I feel like I’m getting better with every single fight, but if I get the call after this fight, if it happens two fights from now, I’m ready whenever I get the call – hopefully after I go out there and show that I am a tough fighter and I have what it takes and I get a finish of Evan and a title defense. Maybe that means that I have what it takes and they will want to sign me.”

But Hafez insists he doesn’t want to put too much energy into anything he can’t control. Future contract opportunities will sort themselves out if he delivers in the cage.

At CFFC 94, he plans on doing just that.

“Everyone looks good on film, but once I put my hands on him and he puts his hands on me, we’ll see who has the strength and who has the power,” Hafez said. “I’m going to go in there and treat this motherf-cker like he’s trying to kill me and take food off my plate, so I’m going in there to do the same to him.”

This story was first published at CFFC.tv.