Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Skelly was wrongly ruled to have been choked unconscious by Bobby Moffett back in 2018.
It’s not often we see fighters successfully appeal for a loss to be overturned to a no contest, but that’s what happened to Chas Skelly.
The UFC featherweight veteran’s “TKO” loss to Bobby Moffett in November 2018 has been officially flipped to a no contest by Colorado’s athletic commission. Referee Tim Mills deemed Skelly to be out from a Moffett d’arce choke, but that was not the case and Skelly immediately protested the stoppage.
Even with instant replay, the call was upheld and under Colorado rules this was actually announced as a TKO. Watch the ending for yourself.
Bobby Moffett gets the 2nd round win by…TKO pic.twitter.com/PIJQoimmg9
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 11, 2018
Nearly two full years after filing his appeal, Skelly received the good news from Colorado Office of Combative Sports director Tony Cummings that the defeat has been wiped from his record.
Here’s the end of the official letter I received. Thank you Tony Cummings and the Colorado Office of Combative Sports, for showing that the athletic commissions can work in the fighters best interest! #Appeal #Justice #UFC #Colorado pic.twitter.com/aeH9GtauJg
— Chas Skelly (@ChasSkelly) June 24, 2020
“While I find no malice in the referee’s actions in this situation, it is my opinion that the view of the fight ending sequence showed that a proper defense was being employed and that as such, the sequence should have been allowed to play itself out. There was no indication that the submission attempt resulted in you verbally submitting or being rendered unconscious,” Cummings wrote.
“Because there was no indication of a verbal or physical submission, nor any indication you were rendered unconscious, and that the referee’s mechanics contributed to the untimely stoppage of the bout, this bout will be overturned to a ‘no contest.’ The results of this appeal will be sent to the appropriate record keeping data bases for recording.”
This one will go in the books as similar to Drew Dober vs. Leandro Silva, which was even more egregious when Dober was caught in an arm-triangle choke and wasn’t close to being out when the referee intervened. That was similarly flipped to a no contest, but those types of result reversals are few and far between, even if it’s an obvious error.
Moffett is no longer in the UFC after he suffered back-to-back defeats immediately following the Skelly bout.
Skelly (18-3, 1 NC) hasn’t competed since a decision win over Jordan Griffin in September 2019. He’s currently sideline with a serious injury suffered in training while prepping for a showdown with Grant Dawson. While he isn’t competing at the moment, at least he was able to pick up a victory of sorts by wiping out a loss.