Watch: MMA fighter in Kyrgyzstan refuses to let go of tapping opponent until referee begins to choke him
In a bizarre turn of events at a Kyrgyzstan-based MMA promotion World Ertaymash Federation (WEF), a featherweight championship fight ended in horrendous fashion. Doolotbek Narmatov, a mixed martial artist from Kyrgyzstan, refused to let go of his opponent Saidburkhon Saidakbarov, who was tapping frantically.
Narmatov and Saidakbarov were competing for the featherweight title at WEF Selection 35. Both fighters were headlining the event. Narmatov made quick work of Saidakbarov after choking him out early in the first round.
However, the Kyrgyzstani MMA fighter refused to let Saidakbarov out of the choke despite the latter tapping incessantly.
The referee intervened to help Saidakbarov out of the choke, but Narmatov disregarded his calls. At this point, the referee had gotten so furious that he decided to strangle the Kyrgyzstani to break the hold.
Narmatov continued choking his opponent for nearly five seconds after Saidakbarov had tapped. He finally obliged to the referee's command and let his opponent free. Narmatov then erupted in celebration.
You can watch the video here.
Surprisingly, no penalty was imposed on Narmatov and he was instated as the WEF featherweight champion at the end of the event.
How can MMA promotions prevent such occurrences?
WEF is not the only MMA promotion to have witnessed outlandish finishes to a fight. Many small-scale regional MMA organizations have seen somewhat similar incidents.
One of the ways to avoid such unfortunate events will be to toughen up the promotion's policy towards such incidents. Doolotbek Narmatov could have been penalized depending on the severity of the damage he caused to his opponent after the referee stopped the fight.
An offense as alarming as this could also result in the forfeiture of the guilty fighter's entire fight purse, along with a hefty suspension for a year or two.
A stringent policy is essential for any MMA promotion to function without a snag. Take the UFC for example, who imposed a lifetime ban on Portugal's Rousimar Palhares for refusing to release his opponent from a submission hold.
The UFC also banned current Paul Daley for life after the current Bellator star sucker-punched Josh Koscheck at the end of their fight.