MMA fighter Ahmad Al Darmaki snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Friday.- The Emirati featherweight had a first round win almost banked after he had submitted his opponent Bogdan Kirilenko with a rear-naked choke.
- But Al Darmaki refused to release his grip even when Kirilenko had tapped.
- And when the referee
Marc Goddard , a former heavyweight fighter, intervened, Al Darmaki responded by shoving the British official twice before putting a forearm across his chest. - Al Darmaki was disqualified. Kirilenko won the fight.
An MMA fighter choked his opponent but refused to release his grip, attacked the referee, and was then disqualified from a recent match.
It all went down on Friday's
Al Darmaki, who was at one point in his career the only professional Emirati fighter, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as he had Kirilenko submitted and beaten thanks to a rear-naked choke at the end of the opening round.
But he did not release his grip even after Krilenko had tapped, and when the British referee Marc Goddard intervened, Al Darmaki shoved him.
It wasn't just one shove, though. It was two, followed by a forearm across the chest and neck, as Al Darmaki appeared intent to continue fighting.
Goddard, significantly larger than Al Darmaki, is a former fighter himself. An ex heavyweight, Goddard put together a winning record of 7-6-1.
Watch the pandemonium right here:
The ESPN MMA reporter Ariel Helwani tweeted that it was a "great job by Goddard" and "despicable behavior by Al Darmaki."
Helwani said: "[He] holds onto the choke way too long and then gets physical with the ref. Unacceptable behavior. Should be DQ'd, suspended, and fined."
Al Darmaki was disqualified.
While the UAE Warriors 12 event was outside the remit of the UFC, the president of the world's leading MMA firm Dana White did say at a later press event that anyone who approaches an official at one of his events would be fired on the spot.
"If you work for me and you approach a judge or a referee or any type of official, I will fire you," Yahoo Sports quote White to have said.
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