Bruno Silva‘s appeal to overturn his loss against Chris Weidman due to eye pokes was denied by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, leaving the technical decision and the loss on his record intact.
Bruno Silva won’t have a loss on his record erased. An appeal to overturn the result of his fight against Chris Weidman was denied by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.
Silva’s manager, Bernardo Serale, shared the news with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. The commission informed them of the decision on Sunday.
The Brazilian fighter sought to overturn the technical decision. Eye pokes played a significant role in the outcome of the fight at UFC Atlantic City.
Initially, the fight ended via TKO. Weidman delivered a barrage of punches when Silva dropped to the canvas during an exchange on the feet.
Replays showed a pair of eye pokes caused Silva to turn around and fall. Referee Gary Copeland didn’t realize what happened until it was too late.
Officials reviewed the footage cage side. They decided to turn to the judges’ scorecards rather than declare a no contest.
With Weidman ahead on all the cards, he was declared the winner by technical decision.
An irate Silva filed the appeal. He hoped the commission would overturn the result to a no contest due to the illegal eye pokes.
“I thought the referee was stopping it because of my eye, but then I saw [Weidman] celebrating,” Silva told MMA Fighting in March.
“I was like, ‘No f*cking way this motherf*cker knocked me out. I was never knocked out in my career. I went back up so angry, telling the referee to look at the big screen. I wanted to beat him up, but I knew that would f*cK my career. I had to control myself there.”
Despite his feelings about the decision, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board sided with the result determined that night in Atlantic City. The loss on Silva’s record still stands.