Pressure and combat sports can make people do crazy things. The latest example happened on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas.
In his UFC debut, Igor Severino bit his opponent, countryman Andre Lima, in the second round of their preliminary bout.
The bite, which led to a disqualification and was confirmed by images that clearly showed bite marks, happened while Severino was behind Lima in a standing grappling position.
The 20-year-old Severino had an opportunity to build something during his stay in the UFC, but his actions on Saturday will make it tough for him to come back to the promotion.
The loss was the first of Severino’s career. He fell to 9-1 with the DQ loss while Lima remained undefeated at 8-0.
UFC CEO Dana White made the decision to cut Severino almost immediately. “Those were two up-and-coming undefeated fighters,” White said via KevinIole.com. “If you get frustrated and want out of the fight, there are plenty of ways to do it, but the worst thing you 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.”
We’ve seen biting in combat sports before, and it’s equally egregious every time we see it.
Lima was about as calm as anyone I’ve ever see who was bitten in this situation. He relatively calmly told the referee that he was bitten which kicked off the brief investigation into the infraction.
Severino is going to have to repair his reputation with smaller promotions before he can ever hope to compete in the UFC, Professional Fighters League or any other reputable mixed martial arts promotion.
Stay tuned for more traditional results from Saturday’s events as it wraps up in Las Vegas.
