Luis Pajuelo’s UFC debut didn’t work out the way he hoped for earlier this year, and the news has gotten worse.
[autotag]Luis Pajuelo[/autotag]’s UFC debut didn’t work out the way he hoped for earlier this year, and the news has gotten worse.
Pajuelo (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has been given a two-year suspension for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy (UFC ADP). Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), which took over after the UFC and USADA split at the beginning of 2024, announced the 24-month sanction Thursday.
According to CSAD, Pajuelo, 29, tested positive for 19-norandrosterone and elevated levels of exogenous testosterone. The tests were taken over two dates, Aug. 5 and Aug. 21, in Lima in Pajuelo’s home country of Peru and Sao Paulo.
Pajuelo admitted the use of nandrolone ahead of the sample collections, the CSAD said in a release.
Pajuelo’s two-year suspension started Aug. 23, the day he was notified of the first adverse test result. The UFC released Pajuelo after the results were reported, and his admission of nandrolone, CSAD said.
Pajuelo got his shot in the UFC with a first-round knockout of Robbie Ring on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023. He made his official promotional debut in March at UFC on ESPN 53 in Las Vegas, but was submitted in less than three minutes by Fernando Padilla and had a five-fight winning streak snapped.
Pajuelo has seven of his eight career wins by knockout, but it appears his next one in MMA will be in the neighborhood of at least two years down the road.
The Nevada Athletic Commission did not think the Attorney General’s Office proposed a suspension severe enough for Igor Severino.
All signs have pointed toward punishment for [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag] since biting his opponent during his UFC debut, but the terms remain up in the air.
The Nevada Athletic Commission voted against an adjudication agreement proposed and presented by the Nevada Attorney General’s Office during a monthly commission meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Deputy attorney general Matthew Feeley revealed a settlement agreement had been reached between his office and Severino’s team for him to serve a six-month suspension retroactive to the March 23 foul and pay $3,314.08, equivalent to 30 percent of his $10,000 show money with legal fees.
“There is very little precedent when it comes to people biting each other in the ring,” Feeley said. “… (Tyson vs. Holyfield) was a little more severe. That one actually took skin off the body. This one I don’t even think caused blood. A lot of consideration went into the incident, and this is obviously something that can’t be tolerated.”
Commissioner Anthony Marnell expressed concerns at the duration of the suspension and said it set a dangerous precedent going forward. The matter was tabled for the next commission meeting on May 31 as the commission intends to lengthen the suspension to a year.
“I guess my concern is that if we approve this, we set a precedent at six months for this type of behavior and then it’s in our record, and that’s kind of how we have to roll going forward,” Marnell said. “I’m not in favor of the six months. What the UFC does is what the UFC does. That’s the promotion’s issue. He can get picked up by Bellator. But if we say, ‘Now you can bite somebody in the ring and only get six months off, which is basically nothing … it’s like a fighter only has two fights a year anyway. He doesn’t miss anything. There is zero penalty here, other than three grand.”
“… The bigger issue is the precedent we set going forward. If it happens again, you’re stuck at six months. That is unbelievably dangerous for this commission. That’s my opinion. You guys can all vote how you want.”
Severino’s representation attempted to join the meeting via teleconference but entered after the agenda item had passed and were denied from commenting.
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Severino, 21, was immediately released from the promotion after he chomped the left tricep of [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 53 at the UFC Apex. The fight had been competitive up until the point of the foul, for which Severino was disqualified by referee Chris Tognoni.
In the week following the incident, Severino apologized profusely during an interview with MMA Junkie. He said he did not understand why he bit Lima and did not remember doing it, a mental lapse he hypothesized could’ve been to a strike absorbed earlier in the fight.
Severino accepted responsibility for the foul. Emotional, Severino also revealed he and his family had been threatened online following the incident. Severino expressed hope that he will not be defined by one moment and that the UFC would someday give him a second shot.
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC on ESPN 54 in New Jersey.
Following UFC on ESPN 54, the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings required updating.
Making her case for a title fight even stronger, [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] shut out Erin Blanchfield in the UFC on ESPN 54 main event in front of a sold-out crowd at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. It was a dominant performance for Fiorot, who kept her UFC unbeaten record alive, while handing Blanchfield her first loss in the promotion. Entering the week at No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s flyweight rankings, Fiorot jumps two spots to claim No. 3.
Also making a splash this week is [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag], who enters the welterweight rankings after stopping Vicente Luque with heavy ground and pound. Buckley has won three straight since dropping down from middleweight, and settles in at the No. 14 spot, while Luque falls to the honorable mentions.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
What to make of Igor Severino’s comments on his biting incident at UFC on ESPN 54? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”
On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses everything around the biting incident between [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag] and [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 53.
After remaining largely silent in the aftermath of his UFC release for biting, Severino finally spoke at length. Previously, we had heard from UFC CEO Dana White, Lima’s post-fight reaction, and then the NAC’s response to the incident. Now, in an exclusive interview with MMA Junkie, Severino gave his side of the story.
So how do we feel about the situation now that the dust has seemingly settled? Is the 20-year-old Severino worthy of a second chance in the octagon sometime down the line?
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MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, Nolan King, host “Gorgeous” George Garcia, discussed Severino’s comments on the biting incident and what could the future look like for the Brazilian.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and also don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
The UFC fighter who bit his opponent speaks out about the incident and it’s aftermath for the first time.
[autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag]’s life isn’t the same as it was one week ago.
As of now, the 20-year-old ex-UFC fighter doesn’t know if it’ll ever be even similar after he bit opponent [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag] during their March 23 fight at UFC on ESPN 53 in Las Vegas.
The highly unusual and flagrant foul disqualified him from the bout, cost him his spot on the UFC roster, and made international headlines far beyond the combat sports bubble.
“It’s been crazy – some crazy days,” Severino told MMA Junkie, through an interpreter, as he spoke on the incident for the first time publicly since it happened. “One day, I was fighting in the best promotion in the world. I was making my dream come true. The next moments, I’m banned from the promotion.”
Severino’s face appeared all over social media as the video went viral. His accounts were flooded with comments and messages, many of them unpleasant.
Severino remained out of the public eye and ear over the past six days until now, as he processed why and how he did what he did. Severino said he still hasn’t figured it all out, and isn’t sure he ever will.
“I come from humble beginnings,” Severino said. “I’ve been working since a very young age. I left my home as a teenager to come over to train and to get here. Then, to see all of this go away and in the way it did, it’s something that is not part of me. It’s not who I am as a person. That’s not who I am as a fighter. I just feel very regretful. It makes me very emotional and sad about it.
“My dream became a nightmare overnight. I’m very regretful to my opponent. I apologize to (Lima), to Dana (White), to the Nevada Athletic Commission, to Sean Shelby, who spoke to me after the fight, to Mick (Maynard) – everyone in the organization – and the fans. Sorry to everyone who was watching that on TV. They didn’t deserve to see that.”
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 23: (R-L) Igor Severino of Brazil punches Andre Lima of Brazil in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 23, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Severino said he reached into his memory bank but came up empty-handed as to why he chomped his opponent’s left tricep during a takedown attempt along the fence. He said he has no recollection of the sequence or its surroundings and was shocked when he watched the tape back. Severino mentioned that a strike earlier in the fight may have caused insensible behavior.
“I remember everything that was happening until I got hit with something really hard,” Severino said. “I watched the video later and I thought it was an elbow. From there, I was on autopilot. I don’t remember anything.”
To Severino, the action is not reflective of his character. He added there have not been prior issues in the way he’s carried himself in any of his past fights.
“You can talk with anyone that we’ve fought with or anyone who has promoted one of my fights,” Severino said. “I’ve always fought with respect and laid it down in the cage. I’ve never done anything outside the barriers of the sport. To me, I couldn’t comprehend what’s going on.”
It’s been Severino’s dream for years to fight in the UFC. He said fighting is how he provides for his family. Severino promised his coach Joao Emilio, of Chute Boxe, a performance bonus for his birthday.
So why bite an opponent given the circumstances? Like many onlookers, Severino struggled to calculate the math in hindsight.
“If you look at the fight, many people came to me and said, ‘Hey, you were winning the round. Why did you do that?’ I watched the video, and yes, I think it was one round apiece, or you could say I was winning,” Severino said. “There was nothing that could justify me biting.”
The bite caused punishments from multiple directions. Severino was disqualified in the bout by referee Chris Tognoni as Lima sported a deep bite mark (which he tattooed on himself hours later). Shortly after the incident, UFC CEO Dana White announced Severino was cut. According to Severino, the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) has since withheld his purse.
Severino said he understands and accepts that punishment should come from the incident, but also doesn’t agree with the notion his MMA career – or prospects of a second UFC shot down the line – should be killed. He also finds the commission’s purse withholding somewhat severe, considering his financial situation.
“I did something wrong,” Severino said. “It’s right that I be punished. I got cut. I think that’s one of the worst things that could’ve happened. The commission withheld my purse, so I’m not even sure if I’ll get paid anything. I’m not sure what they’re even going to decide because this money isn’t even for me. It’s for my whole family that depends on me. Fighting is how I make ends meet, how I’m able to pay my rent. That’s how I’m able to pay for medicine. It’s how I’m able to take care of my sick family members, how I can support them to buy food, as well. That’s all that I know how to do. It’s all that I have to make a means to live.”
Commission and promotion issues aside, Severino revealed another layer of response that irked him deeper than the rest – one that was difficult for him to speak about without emotion flowing out.
According to Severino, multiple family members, including his mother, received threatening messages after the incident. Severino broke down crying when he spoke about his inability to truthfully give his mother proper reassurance.
“They have been going after my loved ones,” Severino said, choking up. “They’re disrespecting them. There have been death threats. My mother doesn’t have anything to do with it. My family doesn’t have anything to do with it. People are acting like I killed somebody, like I’m a criminal. What I did was wrong but it was far from a crime. They’re treating me like I’m the worst person in the world.
“I had my mother call me nervous, crying about people threatening her and saying all kinds of stuff to her and about her. I had to try to calm her down and tell her everything is going to be OK, but how is everything going to be OK? I don’t know if everything is going to be OK. I don’t even know if I have a career after this.”
While the majority of messages and comments were negative, various fighters and teammates defended Severino’s character on social media. One supporter, in particular, really surprised Severino: his opponent, Andre Lima.
Lima spoke out in Severino’s defense during multiple interviews following the incident and advocated for his disqualified opponent to get a second UFC opportunity. Lima even went as far as to say he’d give Severino a rematch.
“He had every right to condemn me and to surf the wave of this moment, he’s extending his hand to me,” Severino said. “He’s saying he doesn’t want me to be cut. He’s saying he would even offer me a rematch, and that things shouldn’t go like this. I can’t express how much admiration I’ve gained from him, how much respect I’ve gained from him. Someone who was so honorable and so graceful toward me, I just wish him the best things in the world. I don’t wish to rematch him, actually. If he ever needs a sparring partner for one of his fights, he can call me any time and I’ll be available.
“What he’s doing for me, even if it doesn’t end up changing anything with my situation with the UFC and this sport, it already means more than any other thing. He could be trampling on me and he’s doing the opposite. People who should be with me are trying to bash me. They’re making fun of me. They’re reenacting me. That shows the nature of the person that he is. I really root for his success from now on. I wish he has the best of luck in his life because he seems to be a great person.”
In an interview with Brazilian MMA-journalist Laerte Viana, Andre "Mascote" Lima stated that he doesn't agree with the UFC to cut Igor Severino after the biting incident on Saturday. He says that he hopes Severino get's another chance and he is willing to do a rematch. pic.twitter.com/yPcmhzsCPB
While it might take time for the public perception to reconstruct, Severino hopes the UFC and other promotions don’t view him with a closed mind going forward. Severino doesn’t want an isolated mistake to be his entire story and is determined to do whatever it takes to prove he deserves a road to redemption.
“The UFC had every right to release me, but I wish I had a chance to redeem myself,” Severino said. “I don’t want to be defined as a 20-year-old kid who bit a guy in the cage and was banned from the sport, and that was it. Everyone that knows me knows that’s not the kind of person that I am. That’s not my character. That’s not how it should have been. … I really don’t want to be defined as the kid who bit his opponent and ruined his life.
“… I know things look pretty bad for me right now, and I just want people to see the person that I am, to see that’s not who I am as a fighter or as a person. Please just let me have a career again. … Please give me a chance to come back and redeem myself. Please let me show you all who I really am.”
MMA Junkie reached out to the NAC for comment on the purse withholding, but the commissioning body declined to comment. The NAC has temporarily withheld purses or partial purses in the past, including $2 million from Khabib Nurmagomedov for jumping on Conor McGregor in 2018. Nurmagomedov was eventually paid back $1.5 million of that. It’s expected a potential fine and/or suspension for Severino will be discussed at a NAC meeting in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Lima was awarded a $50,000 “Bite of the Night” bonus from White, as a result of the unusual circumstances and follow-up tattoo.
This story was updated April 2 at 3:20 p.m. ET to reflect the NSAC’s declination for comment on the matter.
Andre Lima expressed sympathy toward Igor Severino following the repercussions for biting him during their UFC on ESPN 53 fight.
In a strange way, [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag] sympathizes with [autotag]Igor Severino[/autotag] following his UFC release.
Severino (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was disqualified for biting Lima (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 53 bout this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He was subsequently cut from the promotion and had his purse withheld by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Lima received a $50,000 “Bite of the Night” bonus but can’t help but feel for fellow Dana White’s Contender Series alum Severino.
“I feel so sorry, to be honest,” Lima told TMZ through an interpreter. “I’m sad for him because he came from the same thing. He struggled a lot like I did. He has a family. He has a bright future. …I feel so much for him because I know the same journey I have, he has too. I feel bad for him.”
Lima’s manager suggested that he get the bite mark tattooed, and he did, but Lima hopes this won’t be the most memorable moment of his career.
“I want to be remembered by showing my skills,” Lima said. “I know the bite is good. At the end of the day, it was a good thing for me, but I want to become a world champion. I want to get back there and show my skills. That’s how I want to be remembered.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following Bellator Champions Series: Belfast and UFC on ESPN 53 in Las Vegas.
Following UFC on ESPN 53 and Bellator Champions Series: Belfast, the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings required updating.
At the Bellator event in Northern Ireland, [autotag]Corey Anderson[/autotag] defeated Karl Moore by unanimous decision to claim the vacant light heavyweight title. Along with Anderson’s new hardware comes a new spot in the rankings, as he climbs from No. 6 to No. 5.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 53, former UFC strawweight champion [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] won a flyweight fight over Amanda Ribas by unanimous decision. Entering the bout unranked at 125 pounds, Namajunas now has a number next to her name, settling in at No. 12.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
Rose Namajunas is one step closer in her pursuit of becoming a two-division UFC champion.
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] is one step closer in her pursuit of becoming a two-division UFC champion.
After dropping her 125-pound debut to Manon Fiorot this past September, Namajunas (12-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) has entered the official UFC women’s flyweight rankings after a win over Amanda Ribas in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 53 headliner.
The former two-time strawweight champ debuted at No. 7, dropping Ribas to No. 9. “Thug Rose’s” entry leaft Jasmine Jasudavicius out of the rankings.
Namajunas expressed interest in a rematch with Fiorot if the French fighter can get past Erin Blanchfield in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 54 headliner. Namajunas also mentioned streaking contender Maycee Barber as an option.
Either way, Namajunas has no problem working her way to the title.
“I was happy to, instead of being the champ and just jumping straight into a superfight champ vs. champ, I do think it’s kind of cool to just work your way up and do it that way,” Namajunas said at the UFC on ESPN 53 post-fight press conference. “I think becoming a champ this way would be way more impressive. But at the same time, if they want to give me (a title shot), I’ll take it.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.
Miles Johns won for the fourth time in five fights at UFC on ESPN 53 and has a couple of ideas for who could be next.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Miles Johns[/autotag] beat Cody Gibson with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 53 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Johns, who won for the fourth time in five fights.
Julian Erosa took advantage of a takedown attempt for a bonus-winning submission against Ricardo Ramos at UFC on ESPN 53.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag] beat Ricardo Ramos with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 53 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Erosa, who took advantage of a takedown attempt for a bonus-winning submission.
