Pedro Nobre talks about controversial fight at UFC São Paulo: 'I thought I had been knocked out'

The Brazilians Yuri Marajó and Pedro Nobre fought the most controversial fight of the UFC Sao Paulo, an event that took place last Saturday (19), in the capital of São Paulo. After a fulminant start from Yuri, when he took his opponent to the ground, referee Dan Miragliotta interrupted the dispute after several blows delivered by the Pará native to the back of the head – close to never. The duel mediator understood that Marajó's punches and elbows were unintentional and declared the duel as “No Contest" (no results).

The presiding audience at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium did not like the decision, they booed Pedro and, while the BTT athlete was being attended to by doctors in the octagon, they even shouted that he was “arrogant” and “lax”.

On Sunday, still recovering from injuries with a neck brace, Pedro released a press release in which he reported his meeting with Yuri after the fight and his rival's apology.

“Yuri came to apologize to me and reinforced that he never intended to hit me illegally. At the same time I told him that he didn't need to worry, because I know that he is a person of integrity like me. Accidents happen, and this time I was the victim”, said Pedro. “We are two fighters with similar characteristics, who fight forward. I want to return to the Octagon soon. If the UFC asks for a fight, we would do everything to make the show better for the public”, added Nobre, who said he did not remember what happened in the duel.

“What I remember is that I was in a position below Yuri. He hit me several times in the back of the head until he knocked me out. I don't know exactly if he hit the back of the head or how many blows there were, but if the referee stopped it, it's because he saw something wrong. Today MMA is considered a sport because it has rules, so we have to respect them. But when I woke up I thought I had lost the fight, knocked out. I only found out that my team had declared a fight without result at the hospital”, added Pedrinho.