The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) isn’t done with their strange decision making for last weekend’s (April 8, 2017) UFC 210 from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
After massive controversy arose first at the event’s early weigh-ins – both in the form of Daniel Cormier’s questionable ‘towelgate’ and Pearl Gonzalez’s initial banning from the event due to her having breast implants – and then the absolute mess that the ending of the Gegard Mousasi vs. Chris Weidman co-main event became, another fighter on the card has been suspended for doing something we see fighters do on a consistent basis.
Lightweight Charles Oliveira has been held out of action for 60 days for jumping over the cage in the immediate moments after his first-round submission win over Will Brooks on the main card.
That’s according to NYSAC representative Laz Benitez, who confirmed the punishment to MMAJunkie.com:
“Charles Oliveira was administratively suspended 60 days for exiting the fighting area by jumping over the cage after his bout.”
Jumping over the cage wall at the height of an emotional victory is hardly anything new for MMA fans, as we’ve seen countless other athletes do just that after coming out on top in UFC bouts. They’re often warned by the cageside staff to get down, but few fighters actually end up suspended for their over-exuberant celebrations.
However, the NYSAC, as we’ve seen to an extreme degree over the past week, is not like every – or any – other commission, and will do what they see fit regardless of what conventional wisdom or the fans and media think. They also suspended Yoel Romero the same term for jumping over the cage following his TKO win over Weidman at last November’s UFC 205.
The suspension probably won’t affect Oliveira, who returned to lightweight for his win over Brooks after he missed weight by nearly 10 pounds before losing to Ricardo Lamas in his previous fight, all that much, as UFC fighters rarely turn around in two months’ time.
The decision more serves to the chaos of the NYSAC’s strange regulation of MMA so far, as they’ve appeared brutally harsh on some things while allowing some other astonishing things to fly, such as Cormier holding the towel and the unclear use of instant replay or referee accountability in the Mousasi vs. Weidman ending, even if “The Dreamcatcher’s” knees were legal and he was on his way to finishing the bout.
That’s to be expected from a state that’s only regulated MMA for months – at least some of it. But the NYSAC could also be moving towards losing a ton of potential revenue for the state if they keep alienating the world’s biggest MMA promotion as well.
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