Ion Cutelaba Wants ‘One of the Worst Calls in UFC History’ Overturned

Ion Cutelaba’s loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Norfolk was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

After a left hook from Ankalaev appeared to stun Cutelaba during an initial exchange, the Moldovan fighter wobbled all over the Octagon as his opponent attacked with more punches and kicks. Cutelaba was able to fire back with haymakers of his own while continuing with what appeared to be feigned wobbling, and it didn’t look like Ankalaev landed many clean strikes during the assault. However, that didn’t prevent referee Kevin MacDonald from waving off the fight 38 seconds into Round 1. A furious Cutelaba immediately protested the stoppage, but it was to no avail at that point.

“The fight was my fight. This fight was controlled by me,” Cutelaba said through a translator in a post-fight interview with ESPN. “This was my game plan. But I came all the way from Moldova, 15 hours, to show all the world that I am the best. The referee didn’t let me fight.

“The moment [when I wobbled], this was part of the game plan. The moment when they stopped, I was already fighting.”

An animated @ICutelaba explains his strategy was to counterattack and that acting wobbled was part of the gameplan at #UFCNorfolk (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/jWGw7XK13j

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 1, 2020

The 26-year-old later took to Instagram to plead his case, calling MacDonald’s ruling “one of the worst calls in UFC history.” Cutelaba also revealed that he plans to appeal the decision in hopes of having overturned to a no contest.

“Tonight I was denied a chance to show my work to the fans. [Reffing] is a very hard job and tonight a mistake took away months of hard work and possible income from my family,” Cutelaba wrote. “I know that the [commission] will be able to understand that this was a incorrect call and will reverse the decision. Nobody wins in a situation like this, the fans lost on watching what could be the Fight of the Night, my opponent had a contestable win that will be overturned and I had one of the worst calls in [UFC] history happen against me.

“I appreciate all the support from the fans in Norfolk, back home and all [over] the world. I will be back and I believe that we will together be able to correct this injustice.”

As of now, Cutelaba has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances. “The Hulk” is 4-4 in the Octagon and 15-5 as a professional overall.

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Tonight I was denied a chance to Show my work to the fans. Reffering is a very hard job and tonight a mistake took away months of hard work and possible income from my family. I know that the comission will be able to understand that this was a incorrect call and will reverse the decision. Nobody wins in a situation like this, the fans lost on watching What Could be the fight of the Night, my opponent had a contestable win that will be overturned and I had one of the worst calls in @ufc history happen Against me. I apreciate all the support from the fans in Norfolk, back home and all ofer the world. I will be back and I believe that We will together be able to correct this injustice. ————————————— În această seară mi s-a refuzat șansa de a-mi arăta fanilor munca mea. Arbitraju este o muncă foarte grea și în această seară o greșeală a scos luni de muncă grele și venituri posibile familiei mele. Știu că comisia va putea înțelege că acesta a fost un apel incorect și va inversa decizia. Nimeni nu câștigă într-o situație de genul acesta, fanii au pierdut sansa posibila de a viziona lupta nopții, adversarul meu a avut o victorie contestabilă și am avut una dintre cele mai rele decizii din istoria @ufc care sa întâmplat împotriva mea. Am apreciat tot sprijinul din partea fanilor din Norfolk, înapoi acasă și tuturor oferite lumii. Voi reveni și cred că împreună vom fi capabili să corectăm această nedreptate.

A post shared by IC. H U L K (@ioncutelaba) on Feb 29, 2020 at 8:42pm PST