Alexandre Almeida and controversy became closely related at the Professional Fighters League 4 event when referee Dan Miragliotta called an end to his bout with Steven Siler after the ref that Almeida was out from a guillotine choke.
The featherweight contender contends that he wasn?t out from the choke and plans on appealing the submission loss.
?Siler knows I wasn?t unconscious,? Almeida told MMA Junkie. ?He knows I was OK in that position. He apologized to me at the end, saying it wasn?t his fault ? it was the referee?s. The referee stopped the fight and saw I was conscious. He tried to restart it. Siler then told him he had instructed us to stop the fight. That?s the controversy. I?ll submit an appeal with the New York athletic commission to nullify this result, since it was unjust.?
Siler was given the win and the crucial 6 points by the referee?s error, but Almeida still has enough points to qualify for the PFL playoffs.
Almeida isn?t very concerned about how the mishap affected his playoff status, but how it affects the fighters record.
?I?m already in the playoffs,? he said. ?This fight wasn?t counting toward it. I already had sufficient points to qualify for the next tournament stage. What I want is to erase this loss from my record. I don?t want this loss on there because I didn?t suffer a loss. It was a referee error.?
If Almeida eventually does file the appeal, it would have to be done through the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC).