Fabricio Werdum has confirmed that he now plans to appeal against a very controversial knockout loss that took place at PFL 3 against Renan Ferreira. The former UFC Heavyweight World Champion was making his promotional debut in the headline match of the event, shortly after Kayla Harrison continued her phenomenal undefeated run in the co-main event. It was early in the first round when Werdum managed to establish top position against his fellow Brazilian and as soon as Ferreira reversed the position, Werdum locked up a tight Triangle Choke.
It’s then that the controversy ensued as footage from the event appears to confirm Werdum’s story that he felt Ferreira tap out during the submission attempt. The referee did not notice however and the fight was not called off. Shortly after this, Ferreira maintained top position and started to rain down ground and pound that led to a stoppage being called, with Werdum losing the match via Knockout due to strikes. Footage of the controversial sequence comes courtesy of ESPN, with the full results from the event below:
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
PFL 3: Fabricio Werdum v Renan Ferreira Full Results
Renan Ferreira defeats Fabricio Werdum via Knockout – Strikes (Round 1, 2:32)
Kayla Harrison defeats Mariana Morais via TKO – Strikes (Round 1, 1:23)
Brandon Sayles defeats Mohammed Usman via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 2, 3:42)
Larissa Pacheco defeats Julija Pajic via TKO – Strikes (Round 1, 0:51)
Bruno Cappelozza defeats Ante Delija via KO – Punches (Round 1, 0:46)
Kaitlin Young defeats Cindy Dandois via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Genah Fabian defeats Laura Sanchez via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Denis Goltsov defeats Muhammed Dereese via TKO – Strikes (Round 1, 4:21)
Taylor Guardado defeats Helena Kolesnyk via Unanimous Decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Magomed Umalatov defeats Kyron Bowen via TKO – Strikes (Round 2, 0:07)
The full PFL 3: Fabricio Werdum v Renan Ferreira main card replay will be available to watch on ESPN+, click here to subscribe and watch.
