(Gifs courtesy of @GrabakaHitman.)
File this one under your all-time scumbag moves.
Former King of the Cage multi-division champion Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez picked up his first win in his past five contests at a KOTC event yesterday, submitting Andenilson Clementino (yes, that’s his real name) with a rear-naked choke. And that is where the good news ends.
You see, it turns out that Clementino was “mad-dogging” Lopez’s wife backstage before their fight, and believe it or not, Lopez didn’t take too kindly to it. So after securing a rear-naked choke midway through the second round, Lopez decided to teach Clementino a lesson in respect the Babalu Sobral way, by refusing to release the choke even after his opponent had tapped and referee Mike Beltran intervened. Even worse, when he finally decided to let go of the choke, Lopez proceeded to finish things off with a completely unnecessary hammerfist to his downed opponent before walking away.
Not since Mike Kyle vs. Brian Olsen have we seen such a blatant disregard for both the unified rules of MMA and the safety of a fellow fighter, but don’t worry, because Lopez had his reasons, you guys. Or so he tells MMA Prime’s Aaron Tru in a post-fight video which we’ve thrown after the jump.
“It’s a violent sport and I’m here to show the violent part of it.”
That’s all we’re willing to quote from what may be the most ridiculous defense for a cheap shot in combat sports history.
As Tru mentioned, Lopez has already been indefinitely suspended by the California State Athletic Commission and is likely to receive several hefty fines for his reprehensible act in the near future. But perhaps the craziest thing to come out of this story was that everyone else involved in the fight, from the ringside announcers to the referee, all but refused to acknowledge what had just happened in the moments afterward. Twitter user Fight_Ghost was liveblogging the event and described the bewildering scene:
It’s safe to say that the book should be thrown at Lopez for his intentional and straight evil act of retribution. Thankfully, word has it that CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster was actually at the event when this disgraceful behavior was carried out, so expect Lopez to potentially receive a lifetime ban from fighting in the state of California. That still seems like it would be letting him off easy.
We will update you on the severity of his punishment when details are made available.