Athletic Commission rejects appeal to annul Brazilian's Netflix victory; understand the case.

Herb Dean in action during a UFC fight. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC

PUBLICITY:

Adriano Moraes can celebrate in peace. Last Tuesday (14), Phumi Nkuta filed an appeal in an attempt to annul his controversial submission loss to the Brazilian in the first Netflix MMA event, held in May in California (USA), but suffered another setback. After reviewing the fight, the California Athletic Commission voted to uphold the result.

The controversial incident occurred at the end of the fight. Referee Herb Dean awarded the victory to Adriano with one second remaining, but many believe he held onto the rear-naked choke, essentially losing consciousness after the end of the third and final round. It's worth noting that Adriano would have won if the fight had gone to the judges' decision.

Feeling wronged by the referee's decision, Nkuta, who was unhappy with the result in the cage, claimed that he did not faint during the 15 minutes of the fight, but rather seconds after it had ended. Therefore, in 'Turbo's' understanding, since the submission was not legal, his defeat should be overturned. However, despite the athlete's appeal, the Athletic Commission denied this appeal, officially confirming his first career loss.

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“I think I’ve watched it about 80 times. We’ve watched it several times. I’m still not sure when he lost consciousness. When we’re not sure about something, there needs to be clear and convincing evidence if this Commission is going to sanction a fight, just to be perfectly clear,” said the executive director of the California Athletic Commission, according to the website 'MMA Junkie'.

Watch Adriano's controversial finish against Nkuta.

THE END OF ADRIANO MORAES vs. PHUMI NKUTA WAS ABSOLUTELY INSANE 🔥#RouseyCarano
Live tonight on Netflix
9 PM ET | 6 PM PT pic.twitter.com/8zPdCT9uMd

— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) May 17, 2026

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