UFC Featherweight, Kyle Nelson has defended the point deduction that his opponent, Doo Hoi Choi was given in their this fight this past weekend.
Following an illegal headbutt, Choi was deducted a point in the third round, in a fight which he was winning – ultimately costing him the win after the fight was declared a majority draw.
Following the fight, both fans and media alike contested the referee’s decision and the illegal blow appeared to cause no real damage, with it seemingly having no real force behind it. A win would have marked Choi’s first in nearly five years following a long absence from the sport.
Kyle Nelson explains the situation
While there was contention around the point deduction, with UFC President Dana White even giving Choi his win bonus, labeling the decision as ‘ridiculous’, Nelson sat down with LowKickMMA to give his side of the story.
“He was on top, he had kinda like a can opener or a Thai clinch, where he’s holding my head,” Nelson said. “It just seemed like he backed up, pulled my head and pushed his head forward.
“It didn’t seem like he wound up and threw it with everything he had, but it didn’t seem super accidental because he was literally holding my head and brought his head to my head. Maybe he was really tired and lost his balance, I don’t know – the headbutt, it left a little bump on my forehead, it was nothing serious.“
“I think it falls back on some of the warnings that the ref Had given him before that, the first takedown I hit him with, he grabbed the fence, so the ref had to warn him to let go of the fence,” Kyle Nelson continued. “There were a few wrestling exchanges against where I had his back and I had my hands together and he was grabbing inside my gloves, pulling my gloves apart and the ref warned him two or three times about that and he continued to do it.“
While the headbutt itself was not a damaging shot, Nelson believes that the repeated fouls committed and warnings issued by the referee ultimately warranted the deduction.
“If we were just talking about the headbutt, I would say no [deserved the point deduction]. its hard to say that it was completely unintentional, but obviously wasn’t much damage, but if we add up all the infractions, like the glove grabbing which I think played a big factor.
“I think its fair that he lost a point because of all the infractions, but if were looking at just the headbutt, I don’t think it was worthy of a point deduction.“
Do you agree with Kyle Nelson?