Quick Quote: Charles Oliveira says there's no reason to not give him the victory over Nik Lentz
Posted on June 27, 2011, 07:04 PM by Joey Santosus"I didn’t realize he was still (with a knee) on the ground… At the heat of the moment, I wanted to knock him out or submit him. The knee landed and the referee didn’t stop the fight, then I hit him again with another knee. The first one was illegal, but it didn’t hit him on the jaw, and he kept fighting, trying to take me down. The second one actually hurt him. We’re just waiting. I left that in God’s hands, but I think it won’t happen (they won’t change the result). He didn’t go out, he kept on the fight and stood up, then he felt the second knee. There’s no reason to not give me the victory ... If I could change the bonus for the victory, I would. - Tatame.com (via MMAMania.com)
In what was arguably the most exciting bout among the many that made up Sunday's UFC on Versus 4 line-up, Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz battled back and forth in the opening round of their preliminary affair, each threatening to end the other's night early. The action, however, came to a screeching halt just over a minute into the second, when an illegal knee thrown by Oliveira left Lentz stunned and vulnerable to the rear-naked choke that soon followed.
Clearly oblivious to the foul, referee Chip Snider awarded the Brazilian his 15 professional victory. But, as the nearly 8,000 fans who had packed the Consol Energy Center erupted in boos, it was announced that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission would, in fact, be reviewing the fight, which could be overturned pending the outcome. With a potential "No Contest" looming, the fighters were each awarded a consolation prize in the form of a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus - a bonus that Oliveira now says he would gladly give up in exchange for keeping his "W."
Comments
Wait what? he would trade 50,000 if he could to get the Win in that fight
instead of a No Contest?
i Would take 50k for a No Contest any day!!
No one gets into MMA for the money. And those who do, don't get very far. Ask Kimbo. Thats why you're not a fighter.
I say let them have a rematch. Only this time at the start of the fight we will have Charles get down on one knee, have Mr Lentz grasp he back of his head with both hands firmly and fire off one knee with the intention to knock him out.
If Charles honestly believes that it had no bearing on the fight then this should not be a problem.
It was his mistake... he knew the rules when he entered the octagon and it is always his responsibility to be aware of what is going on. If we let it slide then we might as well get rid of the rule.
I think he meant Win bonus not the FOTN bonus. Which is not really that much considering he did get 50k.
No one gets into MMA for money? then why they don't do it for free hu?
of course money is a motive for every fighter don't be so naive.
keep your money because exciting and dominant performance is better than a W on your record just ask Jon Jones. thats why your not a successful fighter stiks
I know Kimbo didnt make it far in comparison to other top fighters but i think it is cool how some weed smoking, body building backyard brawler went into the TUF show and got a chance to fight in UFC.
Why did we bring Mr. Ferguson up anyways i thought we were done with him
And of course their are people doing it for the money, if their was no money involved we wouldnt see very many mma fighters.
Money is the reason for EVERYTHING!!! Duh!
The knee was definitely unintentional IMO. Charles Oliveira won that fight, period.
I disagree you cant say he won the fight period. If the ref saw the knee, and Lentz couldn't continue he would of been DQ'd. Lentz clearly was in trouble after that knee, and was submitted shortly after
I agree Underdog. The first round was close, but the second round was clearly going in favor of Oliveira. It seemed to me that the fight was nearing its conclusion regardless, but obviously no one can say for sure now. The thing to remember is, had the ref saw it, all that would have happened is probably a warning, if not a point deduction, and then Lentz would have been given a break. Of course, that is if he would have decided he could continue, which most fighters do.
It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. It was illegal and it allowed him to finish the fight. Without that knee Lentz wouldn't have gone down. Illegal blows causing the end of the fight = no contest.
* P.S. - it absolutely was intentional. What do you think? You think his knee just jerked like that involuntarily? Do you think he just didn't notice that both Letz knees were firmly on the ground? Gimmee a break. That's like watching someone full on punch someone dead on at the base of the neck from behind and then say, "I thought I was punching him in the face." Are you really that retarded? Maybe you should actually watch the fight.
He just saw the Bisping fight and learned a little something about how easy it is to get away with intentionally kneeing a downed opponent. That's all this is. And in the end, it doesn't matter that it was intentional. It is going to be a no contest either way.
I agree with the fact that it was unintentional.
Yeah, it was a submission and not a KO, but to say it didn't effect the result is ridiculous. Maybe he would have submitted Lentz anyway, but he does not have the right to say that.
Intentional or not, he blantantly broke the rules. He should be very happy with a no contest as opposed to a DQ loss. Fighters have gotten them for a hell of a lot less [Jones-Hamill]
No need for all the attention. Charles won so lets all move on to the next fight end of story
what about bispings illegal knee. They didnt overturn that fight to no contest.
the problem is that the ref saw that one and gave jorge the usual 5min recovery time, in lentz case, the illegal blow was only noticed after it was too late... big gray area in mma when you consider these two cases
tes theyeven went to another round and this knee cut lentz face up which made him even easier to submit.
i think you would be hard pressed to argue that that knee didnt affect lentz ability to defend himself although i believe charles would of won anyway a no contest is fair.
Whilst Oliveira was winning the fight up until that point it is not certain he would have won. Can't blame either fighter really unless it was intentional as Oliveira had threw quite a few knees on the way out of clinches and probably was just doing the same.
The ref should have stopped the fight however, and the knee was devastating to Lentz as he crumpled afterwards and would have probably caused a DQ since it was such a devastating knee, so Oliveira should really be happy with a NC rather than a DQ.
I don't quite know how Oliveira can think he should keep the win though. very unsporting given he was only winning on points up until that point and we have all seen trun around fights a plenty.
The referee was right there, watching the illegal knee, but didn't even have the brains to realize it. Of course Oliviera needs to have the loss on his record, so he will not do it again. He's lucky the Commissioner didn't step in at that time and take over the result inside the Octagon. Oliviera still thinks he deserves the win, despite the severe damage done to Lentz as a result of the illegal knee. He should be saying how sorry he is for that strike, instead of claiming to be the victor. He does NOT deserve the W. Lentz might have lost anyway, but that knee sealed it, when the ref did not step in. The camera showed the position of the ref, so he was watching the kneeing, yet he didn't even snap and realize : wow, that's an illegal knee" then stop the fight long enough to see if Lentz was able to continue. I sure wouldn't give Oliviera the win bonus. That was a fu*ked up move on his part.
in b-ball if the ref don't see the foul it doesn't get called,just like nfl,hockey,and any other sport it may have been illegal but he got away with it and deserves the win if the ref would have stopped it and checked on lentz then it would have been a dif story but there have been fights in the past where groin shots were called and then the fighter lost seconds later due to submission or ko this is the same thing maybe they should get better refs
groin shots not called is what i meant
who cares, its nick lentz, one of the most boring fighters ever. if any one deserves to get f*cked over, its him.
****ing Chip Snider...
Just make knees to the head legal and be done with it, old school baby, punch that mutha in the balls!
i think what should be overturned if is one hand is down even a finger lol , since many fighters do it on purpose, but when a knee is down, hell no.
How can you rule out a hard knee like that, sure he was winning the fight, but the knee was the beginning of the end, Oliveira lost some points there imo, i know it's unintentional , that doesn't mean it was a heavy illegal knee !.
There's no reason to not give me the W, yes there is !
Yeah no reason at all....
apart from the rules
That ref was either very new or very dumb. How can you not see he's grounded? And to be honest, I feel Oliveira was on course to winning that fight, but these circumstances are what they are, and it should be a no contest.
I don't blame Oliveira either, he's in the heat of the moment, adrenaline pumping, trying to finish the fight and he throws a knee without thinking. I can understand that.
What I can't understand is why the ref just stood there like nothing happened. If anyone should be penalized, it's the referee
I don't know what it is about MMA but it attracts some of the worst officiating I've seen in any sport.
I think if the referee would have seen it, and I am pretty sure from the looks of it Lentz would not have been able to continue then he would have won by DQ.
Same thing with Jon Bones and Matt Hamill. Jbones was dominating till he lost on the DQ from a very stupid rule.
So, rules does matter. It could have clearly gone the other way if the ref seen it.