Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas made her much-anticipated return at UFC Vegas 89. However, it was the preliminary card bout between flyweights Igor Severino and Andre Lima that stole all the headlines. While Lima won the bout at the 2:52 minute mark of the second round, the nature of the loss for Igor became the topic of discussion.
Brazilian MMA fighter Igor Severino, who was unbeaten until this weekend, was disqualified after biting Andre Lima. The ref stopped the bout and once the bite marks were evident, the ref Chris Tognoni took the call to disqualify Igor. However, the bout was going quite well for Severino, who secured 5 takedowns and 36 strikes up until the disqualification.
UFC fighter just got DQed for biting his opponent
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 24, 2024
pic.twitter.com/XpotnOXIqV
It looks like Igor won’t have another chance to rectify his mistake inside the Octagon as the company has reportedly decided to cut him for his actions. Veteran journalist Kevin Iole has confirmed that the UFC has decided to get rid of Igor after his actions.
UFC has a history of cutting fighters for their bad behavior. Paul Daley was fired and banned in 2010 for sucker-punching Josh Koschek. In 2013, the company also fired and banned Rousimar Palhares for holding on to a heel hook submission for too long. Renato “Babalu” Sobral suffered the same fate as Palhares in 2007 after not letting go of the rear-naked choke submission at UFC 74 n David Heath.
Dana White fires Igor Severino and gives Andre Lima a bonus after UFC Vegas 89
As previously mentioned, Igor Severino was a rising prospect, who went unbeaten till now. It was his UFC main roster debut after earning a contract at Dana White’s Contender Series. He knocked out Jhonata Silva in September 2023 at DWCS and it impressed the UFC President who decided to give him a shot in the company. However, White has seen enough as he took the call to cut the 20-year-old right after the bout against Andre Lima.
🚨| The UFC will cut Igor Severino from the roster following his disqualification due to biting Andre Lima at #UFCVegas89.
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) March 24, 2024
[per @KevinI] pic.twitter.com/Nzv3ViiBYa
White added, “Those were two up-and-coming undefeated fighters… If you get frustrated and want out of the fight, there are plenty of ways to do it, but the worst thing u can do is bite your opponent. Now, you get cut and lose the biggest opportunity of your life. Not to mention, he’s going to have real problems with the NSAC.” (h/t via Yahoo Sports)
While the UFC has fired Severino, the company has not yet banned him from ever fighting in the promotion unlike Paul Daley and Rousimar Palhares. So, there might be an opportunity for him to build himself back up and fight for the UFC in the future. It will also be interesting to see if Severino gets in trouble with the NSAC (Nevada State Athletic Commission) as Dana hinted.
As for Andre Lima, it looks like he is going to earn a $50,000 bonus from the boss. Lima decided to make the bite mark permanent with a tattoo that said, “Got F*cking Bit Bonus.” It seems like the UFC head honcho loved the gesture and taking to his Instagram story, White added, “I was going to give him 25k… Now I’m giving him 50k. This is AWESOME.”
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