Jacob Malkoun thinks he got a raw deal in his disqualification loss against Cody Brundage at UFC Fight Night 228.
After largely controlling the opening minutes of action in the middleweight bout against Brundage (9-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Malkoun (7-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) threw and landed a forearm/elbow shot from partial back control that referee Mark Smith deemed to be an illegal blow.
The bout was paused, the Nevada Athletic Commission officials reviewed the replays, and when Brundage declared he was unable to continue, the disqualification of Malkoun was issued.
Malkoun did not comment on the result in the immediate aftermath, but he did Sunday on social media. He posted a statement breaking down his perspective of what happened, and felt the wrong call was made, as he did not intentionally throw an illegal blow, nor does he feel the impact warranted the end of the fight (via Instagram):
I’ve had some time to think.
I just want to make it clear that the shot was UNINTENTIONAL, as I was throwing the elbow to the side of his head he turned his back to me. Really the forearm hit his trap so it wasn’t the back of the head anyways.
I’ve lost the bout and some money after dominating which leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But then I remind myself, the morning of the fight I prayed to god asking for two things, to perform to the best of my abilities and show all the hard work I’ve put in, the second was to keep my health.
So in the end god gave me both of these things so it’s not that bad.
Onto the next!
#top10
Malkoun, 28, returned to competition from an 11-month layoff at UFC Fight Night 228. He looked in solid form, but the outcome led to a loss on his record, and the Aussie has now technically dropped three of his past four.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
Jacob Malkoun denies malice in DQ loss at UFC Fight Night 228: ‘It wasn’t the back of the head’