Tag: Edgar Chairez

In just his second UFC fight, [autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] was able to partake in a historical moment for his country of Mexico.

The UFC flyweight competed at Noche UFC on Sept. 16, the UFC’s inaugural event celebrating Mexican Independence Day. Unfortunately for Chairez (10-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a mistake by the referee led to a no contest in his bout against Daniel Lacerda.

Either way, despite not getting the desired result, Chairez is grateful to have competed in such an important event for his country. It was an experience he won’t forget.

“It was a beautiful event, it was all Mexican; the show, the flags, the public,” Chairez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “It was a great night, and you can tell it was for the Mexicans. I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way, but whenever you usually look around you see people that look from the U.S., white people. For this one, you looked around, and it was all Mexa, Mexa, Mexa, Mexa everywhere.

“The energy, how they would chant, everyone doing Mexican chants, it was incredible. I love that Dana White liked it and now plans on doing this event every Mexican Independence Day. I’m delighted. Hopefully, I can fight next year, too.”

Chairez got a quick turnaround, as the UFC rebooked the bout against Lacerda for the upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 14. He’s hoping to set the record straight and get a definitive win.

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The 27-year-old strongly believes this first Noche UFC is the start of a boom of Mexican MMA. Chairez also thinks this effort could’ve been done sooner.

“I think they were a bit late to it,” Chairez said. “They’re working on the P.I. in Mexico, but it’s taken them a bit. I think they also said that they didn’t do too well in ticket sales for a few Mexican cards, but I think they should look into an audience and market study, because in Mexico, there are a ton of people that support it.

“I mean, you saw how it (Noche UFC) broke records of viewership, and I think they will continue to break records the more of these events they do. Keep in mind, there were several Mexican stars missing from this event too. I think this is going to continue to grow rapidly.”

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[autotag]Edgar Chairez[/autotag] came as close as one can get to getting a win inside the octagon without actually getting one.

For a few seconds, the UFC flyweight was victorious in his own eyes, as well as to many fans and the referee. At Noche UFC on Sept. 16, Chairez (10-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) caught his opponent Daniel Lacerda in a tight standing guillotine choke and had the referee pull them apart, signaling Chairez has won. Chairez celebrated with his team and then seconds after came the controversy.

Lacerda never tapped out, but his arm did appear to go limp, getting referee Chris Tognoni to think that he was unconscious. However, Lacerda almost immediately protested the stoppage and claimed he was not out. Chairez disagrees.

“I felt he went to sleep,” Chairez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “His body went completely limp, I was even carrying him. And even before that, I knew it was over. If the fight hadn’t been stopped there, it was just a matter of seconds till he would’ve collapsed completely. I also had the advantage on him on the feet. I could’ve knocked him out. There was so much time left.”

After replay review from Nevada Athletic Commission officials, it was deemed that referee Tognoni intervened too soon and the fight was ruled a no contest. Chairez, who was in an advantageous position and had the guillotine locked for a good 20 seconds, feels he was robbed of a win.

“They took that win away from me,” Chairez said. “Everything was in my favor. I finished him. I posted a few videos caught ring side, and you can clearly see how he went limp. He also was on the verge of doing the tap several times. So yeah, I’m very frustrated that they took the victory away from me that night. This was a tough preparation. You know that these training camps are three months of my life, but whatever. The next day I got rebooked with him, and we’re going to make things clear this time. There’s no other way.”

Chairez and Lacerda are scheduled to run it back Oct. 14 at a UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas. The 27-year-old is happy the UFC re-booked the fight, as he left T-Mobile Arena feeling like he got a raw deal.

He believes he beat Lacerda the first time and wants to prove he can do that again.

“I like it because I want to beat him again,” Chairez said. “Now this is kind of personal, and I want to fight him. I want to finish it and leave no doubt, so why not? And like I’ve said, I came here to the UFC to fight. I want to fight and come out clean and fight again in December or January. I want to fight as many times as I can now that I’m young.”

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