MMA Fighter Chokes Opponent to Sleep, Still Loses on Scorecards

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.

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: