Claudio Silva and Danny Roberts met on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night London, with Silva pulling out a third round submission win.
That victory didn’t come without controversy, as the referee made the call to end the fight while Roberts was in an arm bar, even though it didn’t appear that Roberts had tapped out.
UFC President Dana White didn’t like the referee stoppage either and issued some criticism through Instagram:
Silva, who won the fight with the controversial submission, would say that Roberts verbally tapped out twice.
“The referee told me verbal tap,” Silva said to MMA Junkie. “If somebody shouts when you have the submission, it’s a verbal tap. And that’s what he did. He shouted twice. So, at the end of the day, he gave up. I applied the armbar, and he gave up. He was elbowing me in the face and cutting me off, and I was just laughing. I was like enjoying, because I’d never been in that place before. I was enjoying every single second of the fight. I don’t care (about) adversity. Some people, they quit in adversity. And other people, they make great things. They make records. And that’s what I did tonight. He was ground-and-pounding me, strong elbows. And I just take my time and make him tap. I just show how good I am in BJJ; I’m a true BJJ black belt.”
There has been no comment from Roberts at this time and it is unknown if the defeated fighter will attempt to file an appeal to have the loss overturned to a no contest.
