Fabricio Werdum has had some form of vindication after the knockout loss he suffered in his PFL debut has now been overturned to a No Contest, courtesy of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. This will be a relief for the former UFC Heavyweight World Champion, as he has contested the result of his fight with Renan Ferreira at PFL 3 since mere minutes after the fight had ended:
“In my mind it was over because I feel when he tapped my shoulder. This is why I stopped the fight. I stopped and he keeps going to punch my head. The referee don’t see nothing. When you tap you have to stop the fight. But, it happened and everyone saw he tapped for sure and he knows he tapped.”
Video footage began to circulate shortly after the event that appeared to confirm Werdum’s version of events, but his opponent Ferreira has remained steadfast in denying that there was any tap on his part:
“In slow motion, it looks like I tapped. But when you play the video in normal speed, you cannot say that it was a tap,” Ferreira told Combate. “The referee was on top, on the side looking. He said he loosened it, but he did not loosen it at any time. His triangle was not well fitted, it was on the tip of the foot. His foot was almost on his calf, he hadn’t fit the triangle very well, you know? He didn’t let go, he didn’t let go, and I kept striking, you can see that at no time do I stop striking.”
Now, with the athletic commission ruling in favor of Fabricio Werdum, the loss has been overturned and neither fighter will be receiving any points from their first match of the PFL 2021 Heavyweight season.
Before his finish against Fabricio Werdum, Renan Ferreira appeared to tap Werdum twice on the shoulder. #2021PFL3 pic.twitter.com/1M5ktz4xX4
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 7, 2021
