One of the stranger moments at last weekend's UFC 203 card (and, remember, this is the event where a professional wrestler with no martial arts experience made his UFC debut) came right after the conclusion of the evening's main event.
Stipe Miocic defended his heavyweight strap against challenger Alistair Overeem inside the first round, knocking the Dutchman out with punches from inside his guard. Just moments prior however, Overeem landed a straight punch which sent the hometown fighter, Miocic, to the ground and Overeem rushed forward and locked in a guillotine choke.
It seemed like Overeem might have been seconds from victory but Miocic escaped the hold and went on to finish the fight in the next couple of minutes.
Speaking to Joe Rogan after the eventual loss, Overeem said that he felt his opponent tap out.
Stipe was the better man today. He's a great athlete, he's tough, he always comes to fight. There's one thing I can say about the fight. I believe when I punched him and he went down, I followed him, I got him in a guillotine choke and I clearly felt a tap.
The ref didn't see it. The ref didn't jump in.
Rogan, ever the pursuer of truth, asked for a replay of the incident to be shown on the big screen and when there was no evidence whatsoever of a tap, the crowd turned on the Dutch fighter and showered him with boos.
The thing is Overeem should never have been put in this position in the first place says Rogan, who maintains (correctly in our opinion) that while it's often contractually obliged, it never seems appropriate to thrust a microphone in the face of someone who, moments earlier, had been pounded into unconciousness.
Like Rogan, we hope to see some changes here too. UFC 204 in Manchester would be a good place to start.
If you've ever talked to a friend who has been KO'ed their perception of reality can be drastically off & their memory is severely impaired.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) September 11, 2016
I asked the UFC brass if we could please refrain from interviewing fighters after they've been KO'ed. I don't think it's wise nor fair.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) September 11, 2016
