Jorge Masvidal is so damn good, he knocked Cowboy out twice in the same fight.
"Gamebred" gained a lot of new fans at UFC Denver by lighting Donald Cerrone up like the Empire State building to end the fan-favourite's unbeaten run in the welterweight division. Masvidal put on a striking masterclass as he outworked and overwhelmed Cerrone on the feet to score the TKO victory exactly one minute into the second frame.
Although it took six minutes for Cerrone to be put out of his misery, the fight should have been stopped earlier.
In the final moments of the opening stanza, Masvidal dropped his opponent with a swift three-punch combination, countering off catching another one of Cerrone's body kicks. The flying fists sent Cerrone reeling backwards to the canvas and Masvidal followed him down there in pursuit of the finish. He dropped heavy bombs from the top position causing referee Herb Dean to intervene.
https://twitter.com/streetfitebanch/status/825575442316943360
It may have looked like the fight was allowed to continue because Cowboy was saved by the bell, but that wasn't the case.
Dean actually stepped in slightly before the buzzer sounded, meaning Masvidal should have been awarded the first round finish there and then. After being pried off of his downed opponent, Masvidal stood up and said something to the man in the middle, who appeared to tell him that the fight wasn't over yet.
https://twitter.com/kennyflorian/status/825834638396370944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The refereeing error didn't change the outcome as the better fighter still got the finish, but it did mean Cerrone took more damage than he probably should have.
Still buoyed by taking arguably the biggest scalp of his career and getting another one of those lucrative performance bonuses in the process, Masvidal gave his take on the fight's most controversial moment to
MMAJunkie.
"I wasn’t confused at all. Herb Dean pulled me back. Then I heard the bell."
"You can see on TV the bell sounds, and he pulls me right after. I’m not complaining. I’ll take the double knockout. Not a lot of people get those in a night.”
Two knockouts = two performance bonuses, no? The UFC better write this guy another cheque.
