Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda were booked to compete against one another at Noche UFC on September 16th, 2023 but an early stoppage put a significant damper on what was an otherwise fun fight. It was a very important fight for the careers of both men, as neither of them had registered a win in their time in the UFC. While Chairez was coming off an unsuccessful promotional debut at UFC 290, Daniel Lacerda was significantly worse off as he had not won any of his four fights in the UFC cage and was this was very clearly his final chance to stay with the promotion.
The two men started battling it out on the feet for the first minute or two of their fight, until Lacerda decided to take the fight to the ground. He landed the takedown but Chairez used the threat of an armbar to stand back up, quickly pinning Lacerda against the cage in the clinch. Chairez was able to set up a standing Anaconda Choke in the process and was squeezing hard for the finish, but Lacerda signaled to the referee multiple times that he was fine.
That’s when disaster struck, as referee Chris Tognoni decided to call off the fight because he believed that Lacerda was unconscious. Lacerda immediately protested the stoppage however and it was pretty clear that he wasn’t actually put to sleep based on how quickly he reacted. Given that the choke was applied from a standing position, the most likely outcome if he was put to sleep is that he would have dropped to the floor immediately upon the choke being released.
Footage of the moment that the early stoppage took place at Noche UFC was uploaded to the official Twitter account of UFC on TNT Sports:
Controversy strikes as the referee jumps in and stops this one 😬#NocheUFC | Live on TNT Sports and Discovery+ pic.twitter.com/w8UDSSNF4A
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) September 17, 2023
It was later announced on the live broadcast of Noche UFC that the win had been overturned after officials viewed the replay and confirmed that the stoppage was early, adding that it would be officially recorded as a no contest instead. ESPN MMA also confirmed in a post to their official Twitter account:
Upon replay and review, the bout between Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda is deemed a no decision due to early stoppage. #NocheUFC pic.twitter.com/RZYqYXT50K
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 17, 2023
