— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman)
May 2, 2021
Randa
Markos is accusing Luana
Pinheiro of taking a dive in their strawweight bout at
UFC on ESPN 23.
Markos was disqualified after landing an illegal upkick while her
foe was on her knees 4:16 into the opening round at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas on Saturday night. Once the blow connected, Pinheiro fell
back to the canvas and remained there for several minutes with a
dazed expression on her face. Once it was determined the Brazilian
would not be able to continue, the bout was waved off by referee
Mark Smith.
During the broadcast, UFC analyst and fighter Paul Felder
questioned the legitimacy of Pinheiro’s reaction, and Markos did
the same on her Instagram account. Earlier in the bout, Markos had
been on the receiving end of multiple eye pokes, the last of which
prompted a pause in the action and opened a cut on the Canadian
fighter’s eyelid.
That foul never hindered Markos’ ability to continue, and the two
strawweights brawled in the center of the Octagon once the fight
resumed before Pinheiro executed a throw to get “Quiet Storm” to
the canvas. Shortly thereafter, Marko landed the upkick from her
back that brought an abrupt end to the bout.
“I’ve been in the fight game for a while now. I’ve never
intentionally thrown a illegal blow. It’s a fight, shit is bound to
happen,” Markos wrote. “I took three eye pokes (requiring stitches
and loss of vision) and never thought for a second that I wasn’t
going to continue. I had such a good camp training with
@travislutter, @cdpowertrain and @adams.justin1 in Texas and was
ready to showcase my skills for the greatest fight promotion in the
world. Yes my foot grazed her but that my opponents inability to
continue seemed a bit oversold and suspect. I let her know after
the eye poke that I wasn’t leaving that cage without a win and she
stole that from me.
“I’m excited about whatever is next. I have a tone of heart in me
that needs to be let out. Thank you to everyone that helped me with
this camp. I love you all and I’ll be back soon.”
Markos, who competed on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has
lost four consecutive fights within the Las Vegas-based promotion —
became the first female fighter in UFC history to reach 10 losses
in her career on Saturday night.