Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/The Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
Following an impressive display of poor sportsmanship on Friday night after losing to Chris Lencioni, A.J. is trying to make amends on social media (sort of).
On Friday night at Bellator 243, BJJ standout A.J. Agazarm dropped to 3-2 in his MMA career after losing a judges’ decision to Cris Lencioni. There was nothing controversial about the fight or decision. It was a pretty clear 30-27 for Lencioni as far as everyone was concerned. Well … everyone but AJ Agazarm, that is.
Agazarm has a reputation from the grappling circuit for being something of a sore loser, and he put that on display after the loss by refusing to shake Lencioni’s hand even after referee Mike Beltram tried to force them to. It’s quite the moment:
Wonderful sportsmanship shown by A.J. Agazarm after getting his absolute ass kicked by Cris Lencioni #Bellator243 (/s) pic.twitter.com/ghwblX94xu
— Will (@ChillemDafoe) August 8, 2020
There was a lot of bad blood coming into the fight and it resulted in some ugly moments: AJ hitting Lencioni with a headbutt. AJ throwing middle fingers to Lencioni and his corner. But the fun didn’t end there. Agazarm crashed the post-event press conference (which was only for winners) and used his stolen time on the podium to accuse judge Douglas Crosby of being corrupt.
“Douglas Crosby: He’s had relationships with me,” Agazarm said. “He’s had relationships with my opponent. He’s definitely not impartial. I don’t know what business he had being on the side and judging that fight. That should be immediately examined and the fight should be a draw.”
Interestingly enough, Crosby was the only judge who awarded Agazarm a round with a 29-28 score. The other two judges saw it 30-27.
Now Agazarm is apologizing for what Lencioni dubbed his ‘big baby’ display.
Rewatched my fight. I hate losing & reacted poorly. I’m sorry, Chris, you won. I’ll be back better. pic.twitter.com/2Hq2XgtZ3n
— AJ Agazarm (@TheFloridaBoy) August 10, 2020
But of course, he couldn’t help but follow it up with some weak trash talk.
But dang kid do you have one lucky elbow pic.twitter.com/XhbDR46mHf
— AJ Agazarm (@TheFloridaBoy) August 11, 2020
On the plus side, this sure does make me want to tune in for AJ’s next fight and another lopsided defeat.