Regional MMA fights are known for producing some bizarre events, but a fighter managing to win a fight after being choked unconscious is truly crazy. Yet that’s exactly what happened at Budo Sento Championship 15, when Jesus Gutierrez and Victor Acuna met in the cage. The fight started off pretty normally at first, but then quickly descended into absolute chaos after one particular strike. Acuna dropped his opponent and immediately pounced on the chance to finish the fight, but unfortunately he started off the sequence by landing a knee to the head of a grounded fighter. That strike led to him taking top position and landing a few more shots, before securing a rear-naked choke when Gutierrez turned his back and putting him to sleep.
The footage of the full finishing sequence was uploaded to the official Twitter account of UFC Fight Pass:
Was this legal? Crazy stoppage here at #BudoSento15 pic.twitter.com/1g3PRNb5Yr
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 1, 2023
The knee was clearly not a legal strike, and it undoubtedly changed the course of the fight as well. After all, Gutierrez might have been dropped first but he was clearly still conscious and the knee is what forced him to his back to give Acuna the chance to capitalize. Depending on whether they viewed the foul as intentional, a commission might have decided to disqualify Acuna or they might have just declared the fight a no-contest. Instead, they made the bizarre decision to allow the fight to resume. This meant that Gutierrez had just taken a huge illegal shot and been put to sleep, but was somehow expected to continue:
UPDATE: The knee was not legal, and the commission has decided to resume action. pic.twitter.com/uoyT78wx6L
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 1, 2023
Acuna had already choked his opponent unconscious so like any MMA fighter would have, he felt like he was going to win the fight. That much is clear from the fact that he threw everything at Gutierrez to try and finish him again:
Victor Acuna is throwing BOMBS pic.twitter.com/zghfVv0sXV
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 1, 2023
Not only could Acuna not finish the fight, but Gutierrez actually managed to win despite being choked unconscious just minutes earlier in this truly crazy regional MMA fight:
Victor Acuna and Jesus Gutierrez go the distance in one of the craziest fights FIGHT PASS has ever seen! #BudoSento15 pic.twitter.com/bphUZyEEvT
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 1, 2023