Some fighters just don’t know when to stop.
Brazilian heavyweight Junior
Coelho is in hot water after continuing to strike his opponent,
MMA debutant Tiago
Garcia, even after the referee had stopped their fight. The
incident took place during the main event of Sept. 2’s PMW
Ultimate Fight card, which occurred in Palmas, Tocantins,
Brazil. As a result of his actions, Coelho was ultimately
disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, in addition to the
illegal punches he threw after the referee had halted the
contest.
Just a few seconds into their main attraction, Coelho (1-2) had the
upper hand, hurting Garcia with a cross followed by a straight
punch. As Garcia (1-0) crumpled to the floor with the cage at his
back, Coelho raining down punches all the while, referee Andre
Madeira tried to stop the fight right around the 14-second
mark.
While Madeira stepped in, Coelho continued to drop down punches on
his defeated foe. In a display of recklessness and carelessness,
the heavyweight tossed the referee aside and continued to bombard
Garcia with additional blows. Madeira rushed to get back to his
feet, where he wrapped both of his arms around Coelho from behind
to tackle him to the mat away from Garcia. Whether due to the right
leverage or mixed martial arts training of his own, Madeira was
able to put Coelho on his back and sit on top of him in a crucifix
position until Coelho calmed down.
A member of Garcia’s Shogun Team leapt atop the fencing and jumped
into the cage at that time in case Madeira needed assistance, but
by then, tensions had cooled. When he stood up, as if nothing was
wrong, the 42-year-old Coelho celebrated his victory with his local
crowd. Although a belt was on the line for this PMW main event, the
organization elected not to award the actual victor, Garcia, a
title due to disqualification. It is unclear at this time whether
Coelho will suffer any additional punishment from the overseeing
Brazilian federation.