Saturday night saw UFC's much-feted Fight Island finally makes its bow after months of speculation and intrigue.
Fans and pundits alike had been guessing at the location of UFC President Dana White's brainchild ever since he first floated the idea, with some asserting their belief that the island might not actually exist.
This MMA fighter was disqualified for performing a back flip off his opponent:Well, as we all now know, Fight Island does exist - it's actually located at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. On Saturday, it played host to a stacked card for UFC 251, which included a show-stopping headline match up between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. The fight was hastily arranged at very short notice after Usman's prospective opponent Gilbert Burns tested positive for COVID-19 and was removed from the card.
While the main event of the evening unfolded in perhaps predictable, at times methodical, fashion as Usman wore Masvidal down with his wrestling over five grueling rounds to earn a unanimous decision, it was a fight earlier in the night during the prelims that drew attention from some fans on social media.
Roman Bogatov's bout against Leonardo Santos was thrown into the spotlight after the former appeared to land multiple low blows on his opponent during the same round, prompting referee Marc Goddard to issue a stern warning.
"What are you doing?" Goddard can be heard exclaiming as he calls for a timeout in proceedings. You can watch the clip right here:
And many on Twitter praised Goddard's actions. Adam Caterrall of BT Sport wrote, "I’m the first to critique referees when they have a shocker so it’s only fair to praise one when they’re having a blinder @marcgoddard_uk in the #SantosBogatov fight, stand up my man!"
Another fan responded to one of Goddard's tweets about UFC 251 by writing, "You did well Marc! Thanks for not making us worry for the fighters' safety when you're in there!"
Chamatkar Sandhu, also of BT Sport, responded to the clip of Goddard scolding Bogatov, stating, "Marc Goddard basically asking the question we were all thinking,"
"Marc Goddard walking that boy around the cage like a pissed off father in the supermarket love it," wrote a fourth.
"wow I cant think of another 2 point penalty before today. great job by Marc Goddard." Another fan added of the incident.
Leornardo Santos eventually won the bout by way of decision after three rounds of fighting.
