M. Chiesa after setback in Oklahoma (Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC)
Light weight Michael chiesa will even have to deal with the defeat to the arch-rival Kevin Lee. After months of teasing, the two faced each other in the main fight of UFC Oklahoma, and Lee officially won via submission at the end of the first round. However, Chiesa filed an appeal asking for an analysis of the performance of Brazilian referee Mario Yamasaki, but his request was rejected by the local Athletic Commission.
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Lee and Chiesa had been fighting evenly, but the “Motown Phenom” took the back of the champion of the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter and locked in a rear naked choke. When Chiesa stopped defending, he signaled to Yamasaki that he was out and the Brazilian stopped the fight, declaring Lee the winner. However, the lightweight soon got up complaining about Yamasaki and guaranteeing that he hadn't lost it.
“In the referee’s opinion, right before the fight was stopped, his hands stopped defending the choke. They were suspended in the air and then moved towards his hip. This was confirmed after watching the super slow motion video. He [Mario Yamasaki] was in perfect position and acted according to what he saw,” wrote the executive director of the Oklahoma Commission, Joe Miller, in a letter sent to Chiesa, according to information from the North American website MMA Fighting.
With the defeat, the lightweight suffered his third setback in his professional MMA record, which still has 14 victories. Chiesa also fell to 10th place in the under-70 kg division ranking. Lee has 16 wins and two defeats on his resume and, with the submission over his rival, he moved up to seventh on the UFC lightweight list.
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