- Chaos unfolded Saturday at a UFC event in Las Vegas.
- A referee deducted a point from fast-rising prospect Nurullo Aliev for biting.
- Aliev protested the decision, saying that his opponent had fish-hooked him.
LAS VEGAS — Chaos ensued at a UFC event Saturday as referee Mark Smith deducted a point from lightweight fighter, Nurullo Aliev, for allegedly biting his opponent.
It was a decision Aliev protested as he claimed, instead, that Rafael Alves had fish-hooked him.
Fish hooking is a technique in which a fighter puts their fingers in an opponent’s mouth, and pulls them away from the body. It is an outlawed move in mixed martial arts.
It all went down in the first round of the first fight during the 11-bout UFC Fight Night card held at the Apex in Las Vegas.
Both fighters were on the mat, with Alves in bottom position, when the 32-year-old complained to Smith.
Aliev: ‘There was no bite’
Photo by Getty Images
Though video replay at the time showed no clear evidence of biting because of the angle, Smith seemed to see bite marks on Alves’ finger and duly deducted a point from Aliev.
Unperturbed, Aliev dominated the very next round with his wrestling, and finished the third round by sending hammer fists into his opponent’s face and body to earn a majority decision win with scores of 29-27 x 2, and 28-28.
“There was no bite,” Aliev told Insider and other reporters backstage, after his win.
With victory, Aliev advanced his pro MMA record to nine wins (two knockouts and seven decisions) and remains unbeaten.
The rogue bite was one of two wild moments at the event
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Aliev’s win over Alves wasn’t the only bout to see a pause in action as Ode Osbourne needed a full, five-minute time out after 130-pound opponent Charles Johnson front-kicked him on the groin.
The foul caused Osbourne to writhe in agony on the floor, yet he recovered sufficiently to edge Johnson with a split decision win.
A light heavyweight fight between Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann headlined the show.
UFC returns Saturday when one of the greatest fighters of all time Jon Jones returns for a heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
