Andre Lima made his debut last night against Igor Severino winning in unusual fashion. Things were looking good for Lima in the first round.But, then in the first few minutes of the second round after being put in a clinch was bitten on the bicep. This immediately led to the disqualification of Severino by the referee after looking at the bite mark. Severino has been subsequently let go by the UFC.
Andre Lima Secures Big Bonus After being Bitten at UFC Vegas 89
Following the incident Andre Lima was compensated by UFC President Dana White. White compensated Lima with a $25000 bonus for his trouble. On top of this, Lima has commemorated the bonus with a tattoo sporting the bite mark. This also grabbed Mr White’s attention resulting in him giving Lima another $25000 due to White finding the tattoo “Awesome”.
This unique start to Lima’s career should boost the young fighters popularity. With the shortness of the fight and only a minor injury Lima should be able to to make a quick turn around and capitalise on his publicity.
Why Biting?
For Igor Severino the story doesn’t look good after biting Andre Lima he was cut from the UFC. Biting is a clear violation of the rules and doing so in your debut makes it even worse. The damage to Igor’s career has been instant with his removal from the worlds largest MMA promotion and being branded him a cheater. Biting someone in MMA is viewed as one of the worst types of in octagon cheating. This is because it being intentional unable to happen accidently as opposed to low blows or eye pokes.
Biting is a rather unique way to be disqualified and in general unusual in fights. The most well known example is Mike Tyson biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfields ear. This was due to Tyson’s frustration at not being able to beat Evander and demonstrated Tyson’s mental fragility looking for a way out. This is typically the reason for bites due to the biter not being able to beat their opponent by conventional means or looking for a way out.
This makes Igor’s bite so strange he wasn’t losing badly it was back and forth. Perhaps the occasion got to the young fighter and he wanted out or he just wanted to inflict pain on his opponent. Igor has since remained radio silent not providing any context. This is for the better allowing people to forget about this embarrassment so he can move on with his career.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
