Drew Chatman made his professional MMA debut this past Friday Night at Legacy Fighting Alliance 36, initially defeating Irvins Ayala by knockout.
However, a post-fight antic that saw Chatman first stand on the back of his knocked out opponent before attempting to land a somersault on him has led to widespread criticism.
AXS TV posted the strange incident on their Twitter:
So this happened after we went off air from #LFA36 last night. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/WNlrNA9Za1
— AXS TV Fights (@AXSTVFights) March 24, 2018
The result of the fight would immediately be changed to a disqualification loss for Chatman, but that isn’t the end of the fighters problems after the outrageous stunt. The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has already suspended the fighter 90 days and his paycheck will also be withheld until further notice.
Chatman would issue the following statement to MMA Fighting:
“I threw a kick, he tripped me and as he came down, I moved my knee in a certain position and he had hit his chin to my knee. At that moment, it happened so fast that my instincts just kicked in and I started punching. As he fell down to the floor, it was almost like I couldn’t believe he was out, because it happened really quick. My natural reaction was just to get up. Normally, I celebrate my fights. If you see all my amateur fights, I’m doing flips, I’m doing cartwheels or whatever the case may be. I didn’t think before I did it. I just jumped and did a flip. So it was almost like subconsciously I did what I normally what I would do celebrating a victory that I normally get…I want to apologize to Irvins Ayala. He was a good opponent. And he brought the fight to me. And he had a lot of heart. It was not a good move on my part as a martial artist. And I want to apologize to the California athletic commission, because they laid down the rules, they gave a great understanding and they do their job very well. Also, to Legacy, LFA, because they gave me a great opportunity to display my skills and it was a good platform. I’m not gonna play the victim here, because when you look at it the real victim here is Irvins Ayala. Let’s just be real. He showed up, he fought. It was an unfortunate mishap, but it did not have to end that way. All this publicity, all this media, the reality is I was wrong and I ain’t trying to gain no fame off of this, because I’m a martial artist.”
Lorenz Larkin, who wasn’t even in attendance on that night, would spew some hatred to Chatman for his post-fight antics and that would be done on Instagram:
Here is a transcript of what Larkin said, provided by MMA Junkie:
“You f-cking piece of sh-t. I’ve never, ever in my f-cking life see any type of classless sh-t like that, and I’ve been in the game for a while. I hope – I know (LFA President) Ed Soares is one hell of a f-cking promoter, and he will handle it to the fullest f-cking potential he can. But I hope no other f-cking promotions – no matter how you f-cking do in your career – pick your sorry ass up. And I’m so glad you’re not on the higher f-cking levels so I could get my hands on you, you piece of f-cking sh-t.”
Neither Irvins Ayala or anybody from the LFA has yet to comment on the situation.
