Busted! Werdum Vs. Ferreira Result Overturned

Renan Ferreira may be steadfast in his declarations that he didn’t fake a tap during his PFL fight with Fabricio Werdum, but apparently the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board thinks otherwise.

Werdum and Ferreira fought in the main event of PFL 3, with the winner earning points to advance to a heavyweight playoff tournament later in the year. But controversy erupted after Werdum caught Ferreira in a triangle choke and seemed to force a tap out of his opponent. Moments later Ferreira pulled out of the submission and rained down hammerfists on Werdum, knocking him out.

“In my mind it was over because I feel when he tapped my shoulder,” Werdum said shortly after the fight. “This is why I stopped the fight. I stopped and he keeps going to punch my head. The referee don’t see nothing. When you tap you have to stop the fight. But, it happened and everyone saw he tapped for sure and he knows he tapped.”

Now the New Jersey sports commission that oversaw the fight is agreeing with Werdum and overturning the fight result. According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi the bout has now been declared a No Contest … which is a bit odd. If they’re saying the tap was legit, then shouldn’t Fabricio be given the full W? But hey, in a world where athletic commissions rarely bother to go back and fix obvious mistakes (even with clear video evidence), we’ll take what we can get.

The switch brings Werdum’s record to 24-9-1 (1 NC). No word on whether the PFL will be adjusting the playoff points awarded due to the commission decision. There’s also a question of whether Ferreira was paid a win bonus and if that will be clawed back too. All in all a bad day for Ferreira, who is now 6-2-0 (1 NC). It was both men’s first fight in the PFL.