Rodolfo
Bellato has opened up on his controversial outing against
Paul
Craig at UFC
Atlanta.
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Bellato and Craig met in a preliminary light heavyweight clash at
the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday. Bellato was trying to
land ground-and-pound on Craig in the final seconds of the first
round when he ate an illegal upkick that sent him crashing to the
canvas. While “Trator” initially appeared to protest the illegal
upkick, he started grappling with the referee moments later,
seemingly out of confusion after being briefly unconscious. Bellato
was deemed unable to continue, and the fight was declared a no
contest due to an illegal blow.
Many fans and fighters alike later
questioned the authenticity of Bellato’s reaction, accusing the
Brazilian of bluffing. Bellato addressed the accusations, detailing
what exactly transpired in those final seconds. Bellato claims that
while he initially recognized the illegal kick and protested, he
started losing consciousness immediately afterwards. Bellato also
notes that this was the second time he made weight after the outing
was postponed from May, and it made no sense to knowingly bail out
in the first round. The 29-year-old also thinks he would have won
the first stanza on the scorecards.
“God knows about all things! To everyone cheering for me, I’m in
good health and will be back soon, thank you so much!” Bellato
wrote on Instagram (via translte). “And I saw some things on the
internet, saying I was an actor there and stuff. The moment I was
on the ground, I didn’t expect to get kicked in the face
(illegally). It was a strong kick, when I looked at the judge to
complain, my whole body began to tingle and my vision disappeared.
After that i dont remember anything.
“Anyone who’s known me the longest knows I would NEVER do this.
I’ve never run from war. I hit [weight twice] in less than 30 days,
[two] trips in a row. Why would I fake something after all I been
through and on top of that winning the first round? In the end …
I thank all the real ones for the positive messages. God is in
charge.”
Craig also heard the rumors of Bellato faking the knockout, but he
said wants to give the Brazilian the benefit of the doubt.
„It’s my fault as much as it is his fault,“ Craig said at a
post-fight media scrum. „We shouldn’t be looking to persecute him
if he’s taking the knee. It was an illegal move.“
Bellato now has a win, a loss, and a no contest in the UFC since
making his debut in 2023. Meanwhile, Paul has registered only one
win in his last seven outings.