How does someone choke an opponent unconscious in MMA and still lose?
A baffling turn of events at the Invicta FC bout in Saturday night prevented what could have been a well-deserved victory for Norwegian strawweight Celine Haga over opponent American Amy Montenegro.
WOW!! What an end to Amy Montenegro vs Celine Haga on #InvictaFC21 #UFCFIGHTPASS pic.twitter.com/w0SyP2Ipoz
— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) January 15, 2017
In her Invicta FC debut, Haga was able to render Montenegro unconscious by applying an impressive, powerful choke just before the bell rang at the end of the third round.
For some reason, however, Haga still lost the fight when the judges’ decision was read, News.com reported.
Apparently, officials have ruled that Montenegro passed out after the bell, which brought the fight’s decision to the scorecards, although it was obvious that the referee did not stop the fight before the choking, which would have signified the end of the match.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28, handing over the victory to Montenegro via a unanimous decision. Not only that, Montenegro was even given a 10-9 in the third round by two of the three judges despite being knocked out cold.
The decision left a number of fighters in disbelief:
Don’t agree with that. If your out cold at the end of the fight it should be over, no need for judges #InvictaFC21
— Brian Camozzi (@BrianCamozzi) January 15, 2017
As time expired, Haga applied a schoolyard choke and Montenegro went unconscious. pic.twitter.com/CCCcQZ5KcR
— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) January 15, 2017
Really upset about the call made for @celineHaga on @InvictaFights hopefully they revisit that decision
— Michelle Waterson (@karatehottiemma) January 15, 2017
What the hell ref she was out like 5 sec before the bell @InvictaFights #InvictaFC21
— Ray Borg (@tazmexufc) January 15, 2017
That sure looks like a win for @celineHaga to me! Out COLD at the bell!! @InvictaFights #InvictaFC21 @UFCFightPass @JacksonWinkMMA pic.twitter.com/50cFuFWoK2
— Emily Peters Kagan (@EmilyPKagan) January 15, 2017
Word! That’s gotta get overturned. She was OUT COLD. This fight was straight up wacky. #InvictaFC21 https://t.co/DBoaXcMuM5
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) January 15, 2017
John McCarthy tells me that the rule is: if a fighter in a submission is unconscious at the bell, the result is a submission win. https://t.co/LZsFiNVqsM
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) January 15, 2017
The United States-based Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion for female fighters.
