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Stephan Bonnar to appeal loss at UFC 110

Written by: fightsportsonline on 24th February 2010

Stephan Bonnar to appeal loss at UFC 110

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Stephan Bonnar is set to appeal his loss at UFC 110 against Krzysztof Soszynski on the grounds that an accidental clash of heads caused the fight stopping cut.

In the end Soszynski was awarded a TKO stoppage despite the fact that the cut was clearly caused by a headbutt rather than a legal strike.

Bonnar said of the appeal: “It’s only fair to get this overturned to a no contest or draw,” Bonnar said. “In the rules, if after two rounds a fighter suffers a cut from an illegal blow, they go to the scorecard. The judges had it one round a piece, which would have made it a draw.”

“Right after (it) happened, I pointed to my head and told him, ‘Head butt,’” Bonnar said. “Why he didn’t look up at the replay, which they showed about 30 times, I have no idea.”

“Krzysztof acknowledged the cut was from a head butt and would like to finish the fight as well,” Bonnar said. “He was a good sport and a class act. We gave each other credit for a great fight. He knew the clash of heads opened the cut, and like myself would like a rematch. It just shows what kind of sportsman he is. He earned my respect as well.”

Now on a three fight losing streak with the UFC if the result stands, Bonnar needs a win badly if he intends to keep his place in the promotion, who are not afraid of cutting the wheat from the chaff when it comes to under performing fighters. Bonnar’s big saving grace is that he was on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter and had a historic fight against Forrest Griffin on the finale, which many credit as turning the fortunes of the then struggling UFC around.

“I have never been wronged so bad in a situation that was so obvious,” he said. “I still can’t understand the referee. Yes, I will appeal this decision. I just want what is fair. How do 20,000, people including my opponent and the commentators, see that a clash of heads occurred and the referee not see it? I feel like I’m in a pro wrestling match, where one of the wrestlers hits his opponent over the head with a chair when the referee’s back’s turned. Everyone in the arena sees what happened but the ref, then the ref gets down and gives the three-count and gives the guy the win. It really feels like that.”

If the appeal is successful and the bout is changed to either a draw or a no decision, a rematch could well be on the cards for the pair, neither of which has a clear next step in the UFC laid out for them.

There are also rumblings that Bonnar might face off against the up and down Keith Jardine after his loss to Ryan Bader.

Topics: UFC