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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC 110 bout between Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski ended in a bit of controversy, as the competitive fight was stopped by the doctor's in the third round due to a cut suffered by Bonnar, awarding the TKO victory to Soszynski. The issue with the stoppage came from the fact that the cut was caused by an inadvertent head butt in the center of the cage, a blow highlighted by Joe Rogan's commentary and the subsequent replays that showed it was clearly the head butt that caused the cut.
Following the event, Bonnar appealed the TKO result with the Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales, the event's regulation body. On Tuesday the New South Wales Commission made the decision to uphold the original TKO victory for Soszynski, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.
The reason given by Craig Waller, Executive Director of the Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales, for upholding the decision was that "the Combat Sports Authority of NSW did not seek to interfere with the referee's decision."
While Soszynski blasted out of the gate in the fight and had Bonnar seemingly overmatched in the opening minutes, Bonnar was able to comeback into the fight and make an argument for taking the second round and keeping himself competitive in the fight. Due to that fact it's no surprise that reports are stating a rematch should be coming soon between the two fighters. The bout would take place at The Ultimate Fighter season 11 Finale on June 11th.
Penick's Analysis: This is one of those results that should have been overturned. With it being the UFC's first event in Australia they may have simply been wary of making any changes to what happened, but the referee's decision was incorrect in this case and that's precisely when the commissions should be able to interfere. It was tough live to see that it was the head butt that caused the cut, but it was clear enough for Rogan and many others to see at cageside that it was the case. Considering they had video evidence that it was an accidental illegal head butt as well the bout should have been ruled a no contest. This was well within the power of the CSA of NSW. At any rate, Bonnar will get his rematch this summer and have a chance to show he can fight the entire fight like he was the last half before the cut.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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