UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili was not pleased to see one fighter’s outing at Saturday’s pay-per-view brought to a controversial end after just 19 seconds.
While the promotion’s second numbered event of the year — UFC 312 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia — wasn’t particularly thrilling or memorable, it certainly didn’t start slow.
Kicking off proceedings was a debuting local favorite in Quillan Salkilld, who needed just one strike to finish Anshul Jubli and announce his arrival on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.
The Indian was badly dropped by a clean right hand but was quick to grab a leg as Salkilld jumped on him. The referee, however, immediately decided he had seen enough and called off the bout.
Jubli furiously protested the result, and his claim of an early stoppage has been backed by plenty in the community. That includes one prominent peer in Dvalishvili, who slammed the referee’s intervention in a post on X.
“Work so hard in training camp and gets an early stoppage … hate this ! #UFC312“
Dvalishvili frequently calls out stoppages he perceives to be early, having seen firsthand the effects of controversial finishes back in 2023 when teammate Aljamain Sterling was unseated from the bantamweight throne by Sean O’Malley.