Edgar Chairez came as close as one can get to getting a win inside the octagon without actually getting one.
For a few seconds, the UFC flyweight was victorious in his own eyes, as well as to many fans and the referee. At Noche UFC on Sept. 16, Chairez (10-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) caught his opponent Daniel Lacerda in a tight standing guillotine choke and had the referee pull them apart, signaling Chairez has won. Chairez celebrated with his team and then seconds after came the controversy.
Lacerda never tapped out, but his arm did appear to go limp, getting referee Chris Tognoni to think that he was unconscious. However, Lacerda almost immediately protested the stoppage and claimed he was not out. Chairez disagrees.
“I felt he went to sleep,” Chairez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “His body went completely limp, I was even carrying him. And even before that, I knew it was over. If the fight hadn’t been stopped there, it was just a matter of seconds till he would’ve collapsed completely. I also had the advantage on him on the feet. I could’ve knocked him out. There was so much time left.”
After replay review from Nevada Athletic Commission officials, it was deemed that referee Tognoni intervened too soon and the fight was ruled a no contest. Chairez, who was in an advantageous position and had the guillotine locked for a good 20 seconds, feels he was robbed of a win.
“They took that win away from me,” Chairez said. “Everything was in my favor. I finished him. I posted a few videos caught ring side, and you can clearly see how he went limp. He also was on the verge of doing the tap several times. So yeah, I’m very frustrated that they took the victory away from me that night. This was a tough preparation. You know that these training camps are three months of my life, but whatever. The next day I got rebooked with him, and we’re going to make things clear this time. There’s no other way.”
Chairez and Lacerda are scheduled to run it back Oct. 14 at a UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas. The 27-year-old is happy the UFC re-booked the fight, as he left T-Mobile Arena feeling like he got a raw deal.
He believes he beat Lacerda the first time and wants to prove he can do that again.
“I like it because I want to beat him again,” Chairez said. “Now this is kind of personal, and I want to fight him. I want to finish it and leave no doubt, so why not? And like I’ve said, I came here to the UFC to fight. I want to fight and come out clean and fight again in December or January. I want to fight as many times as I can now that I’m young.”