Kneeing a grounded opponent? Illegal. Some only discovered this after Aljamain Sterling‘s DQ victory over Petr Yan at UFC 259 last year for exactly that. But surely the officials are aware of this rule? Troy Gibson may be asking that same question after his professional debut at Cage Conflict 8.
After going 9-2 as an amateur, Gibson made his professional MMA debut on Saturday. His opponent was the welterweight fighter Vadim Kolesnikov (0-2), who debuted professionally last year. A strong start for Gibson in round 1, securing top position and delivering ground and pound, quickly turned sour. Kolesnikov began unleashing knees from the bottom of side control to the debutant’s head. Referee Peter Lavery stood over the action but made no effort to stop the contest.
After over a dozen illegal knees landed, a clearly dazed Gibson lost position. As he stumbled back to his feet, Gibson got caught with a huge right hand, and Lavery finally intervened. Kolesnikov walked across the cage celebrating his presumed victory. He went on to yell into the crowd and push a cut woman attempting to aid him.
Fortunately, Kolesnikov was eventually disqualified for his actions, and Gibson was given the victory (via Andy Stevenson, Severe MMA).
Despite the unnecessary damage, Gibson remained in high spirits. He took to Instagram, where he criticised Lavery and thanked people for their support.
Later, in an interview with FansViewMMA, Gibson stated Lavery had not yet offered him an explanation for the stoppage and noted that the damage on his face was “all because of illegal strikes”.
What do you make of the situation?
Featured image credits to Cage Conflict
