Controversy reared it’s ugly head a UFC 211 when Dustin Poirier fought Eddie Alvarez to a no contest after Alvarez clobbered Poirier with some accidental illegal knee strikes.
Referee Herb Dean ruled the fight a no contest, which was the result announced by Bruce Buffer to those in attendance and those watching at home.
However, the Louisiana native in Poirier has opted to file an appeal with the Texas Department Of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) in an attempt to change the result of the fight from a no contest to a disqualification win for himself.
Texas has yet to adopt the new unified rules of MMA, but at least two of the three knee strikes landed by Alvarez on a downed Poirier were illegal.
The unfortunate aspect for Poirier and the result of the fight is that the referee, in this case Herb Dean, has to use his judgment to determine if the strikes were on purpose or accidental. Dean ruled them to be accidental, which lead to the fight eventually being ruled a no contest.
Neither Alvarez, the UFC or the TDLR have commented on the matter. There’s also no date set yet for when the TDLR will offer a ruling on the case.
