What happened in the UFC fight between Carlos Hernandez and Denys Bondar?
UFC on ESPN: Vettori vs. Cannonier had a lot of talking points thanks to the officials. There were some rather strange calls and none more so stranger in the clash between Carlos Hernandez and Denys Bondar.
There already was some controversy in the prelim card fight with Bondar hitting Hernandez with an illegal knee. However, the referee, Jerin Valel did not take a point off Bondar for this action.
Then in the final round of the bout, Hernandez was able to get a takedown of his rival. The American, who came into the fight 8-2, being 1-1 in the UFC, was then able to land several vicious elbows on his rival.
Bondar was out and the referee stopped the fight with just one second remaining. While Hernandez celebrated the win and it seemed he got a highlight reel knockout, replays showed that there was a clash of heads during the takedown and Bondar was out before the elbows.
This led to a massive change in the result with the fight going to the judges. There was no controversy over who got the win with Hernandez doing much better across the boards, but this decision caught quite a few off guard.
Carlos Hernandez puts blame on referee for unnecessary elbows
The 29-year-old was asked about the change in decision after the fight, and he didn’t mince his words.
The American claimed that he didn’t feel there was a headbutt at all, and even blamed the referee for some of the elbows he dropped on Bondar.
Hernandez claimed he knew that Bondar was out after the fourth elbow. However, the UFC referee not stepping in to stop the fight, he kept putting the shots in since he had heard the clicker (10-second mark).
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