Yesterday a video of a fighter celebrating his KO win by jumping on the spine of the knocked opponent went viral.
Over the years we’ve seen many bizarre scenes in MMA but perhaps none as disrespectful as this one:
So this happened after we went off air from #LFA36 last night. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/WNlrNA9Za1
— AXS TV Fights (@AXSTVFights) March 24, 2018
Irvins Ayala KO’d himself throwing a hammerfist on the ground, when his chin slammed into Chatman’s knee, who was on his back in guard.
Chatman was then disqualified at 2:39 of Round 1 for jumping on the back of an unconscious Ayala. He will not collect his fight purse of $500.
This was Drew Chatman’s MMA debut and his actions drew widespread criticism. He
The 23 year old Chatman was apologetic as he told MMA Fighting:
“I threw a kick, he tripped me and as he came down, I moved my knee in a certain position and he had hit his chin to my knee. At that moment, it happened so fast that my instincts just kicked in and I started punching. As he fell down to the floor, it was almost like I couldn’t believe he was out, because it happened really quick. My natural reaction was just to get up.
“Normally, I celebrate my fights. If you see all my amateur fights, I’m doing flips, I’m doing cartwheels or whatever the case may be. I didn’t think before I did it. I just jumped and did a flip. So it was almost like subconsciously I did what I normally what I would do celebrating a victory that I normally get.”
“Let me be honest with you, man, I don’t deserve to get paid for that. It’s disappointing watching that. My mother has to see that. People that look up to me and see me become an inspiration to them have to look at that. Even though I’m not a champion so to speak, but I overcame a lot of things and I became something that I never thought I would become. Just to have my first pro fight is crazy, because I didn’t think I’d ever be on this level. It just happened so fast…
Here’s some of the outraged reactions to the said move:
— Jonathan Myers (@edz_jono) March 24, 2018
@LFAfighting should cut him immediately.
— WWMA Scoop W/Jeremy Ginger (@jginger77) March 24, 2018
That guys parents after watching that.. pic.twitter.com/u42RoPEe4y
— Chaz Weatherford (@WeatherfordChaz) March 24, 2018
And there is the LFA equivalent to Colby Covington
— Bobby Reynolds (@B_Reynolds18) March 24, 2018