Andreas Michailidis suffered the first defeat of his UFC career in bizarre fashion on Fight Island last night.
Having been on a three-fight win streak going into the light heavyweight encounter, Michailidis took on Modestas Bukauskas on the UFC on ESPN 13 preliminary card at Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi but was beaten in the first round following a referee stoppage.
Right at the end of the first round, Bukauskas rained on Michailidis with some brutal but legal lateral elbow strikes after he went for a takedown.
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The blows landed extremely cleanly and clearly hurt Michailidis as when the buzzer sounded for the end of round one, he was on his knees and clutching his head.
Referee Daniel Movahedi could be heard checking up on him and explained that the shots were legal.
"Legal shots, up you get," Movahedi said.
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"Andreas, they were legal shots, up you get. You good? You good?"
As he moved to his corner while his team tried to enter the Octagon, the door was open and Michailidis fell backwards out of the cage.
Without any hesitation, the official waved off the bout and Lithuanian-born Bukauskas was awarded a first-round TKO victory in his UFC debut.
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Speaking on commentary, UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping said he understood the referee's stoppage but felt for Michailidis, who was unaware the door had opened.
"That's a shame," the former middleweight champion stated.
"I understand why the referee did that, but he didn't know that the door opened for my money."
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However, 'The Spartan' did look dazed when sat on the stool afterwards so it appears as though the right call was made - a statement UFC president Dana White concurred with.
"I think that was a good stop by the ref," White said on Instagram, as per MMA Fighting.
Topics: Fight Island, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, MMA
