NATAL, Brazil — Jussier Formiga got his first submission victory in the UFC, but it didn’t come without controversy.
The Nova Uniao flyweight locked a tight rear-naked choke with three minutes into the first round against Scott Jorgensen at UFC Fight Night 38 in Natal, Brazil, and got the tap.
Jorgensen protested after the loss, saying that the Brazilian rocked him with a head butt. However, the Natal-based fighter is not sure he did anything illegal.
“I don’t think it was a head butt,” Formiga told the media after the win. “I moved forward and my head hit his chest and he went down. I took the opportunity and took his back. I wanted to go for a leglock, but I lost the position and went for the neck.”
Formiga got his eighth submission victory in MMA, but that wasn’t his original strategy for the flyweight fight.
“My game plan was different,” he said. “I wanted to strike against him, but I don’t know if he slipped or something like that, so went down and got the submission.”
At 2-2 under the UFC banner, the former top-ranked fighter is confident he has what it takes to be at the top again.
“A lot of people put a huge pressure on me,” Formiga said. “When I entered the UFC, they said I’d be the first Brazilian to win the flyweight title, and tonight I proved I’m alive in the division and I can get to the top.”