What’s the story?
MMA fighter Strahinja Gavrilovic was facing Jo Vallee this Friday night, at TKO 37 event in Montreal. Gavrilovic knocked out Vallee with a heavy right hook in less than a minute to win the fight, but it didn’t end there.
Gavrilovic continued to hammer his knocked out opponent, even after the match was called off by the referee. The referee tried to stop him but Gavrilovic continued swinging at his opponent until the referee had to drag him away.
This unsportsmanlike conduct cost Gavrilovic the fight, as the result was overturned and Vallee took home the DQ victory.
In case you didn’t know...
There was bad blood between the two fighters even before the fight had started. It was quite evident from the intense stare down during the weigh-in photo,
Gavrilovic has a professional MMA record of 5-3-0 (W-L-D). He had won his first 5 fights on a trot, his last defeat was in this match as he lost his composure and was disqualified.
Jo Vallee has a professional MMA record of 6-1-0 (W-L-D). Both the fighters are from Canada, Vellee is ranked #11 among pro middleweights from Canada while Gavrilovic is ranked #32.
The heart of the matter
Trash talking and little bit of aggression is quite common between fighters during pre-fight interviews and weigh-ins. But once the fighters step inside the cage, they have to follow the rules of the sport. After all it is the rules which makes it a sport, and these are in place to ensure fare fight and safety of the MMA fighters.
This kind of unsportsmanlike behaviour shown by Strahinja Gavrilovic is quite rare in the MMA world and its a disgrace for any athlete and the sport in general. It even leaves the fans in a foul mood.
Here is the video of what transpired inside the cage at TKO 37 after the fight was stopped,
What next?
As a result of his unsportsmanlike conduct and failing to obey the referee, Gavrilovic was disqualified even after knocking out his opponent. It will go down as a defeat in his career. He might even have to face some kind of suspension for this behavior.
Sportskeeda’s take
We have seen many great rivals clash it out inside the Octagon, fighters who have had a long history of hatred towards each other. But when they enter inside the Octagon they leave the history behind them and don’t let it influence the fight. Most important they obey the referee at all times. Incidents like these where a fighter can’t control his rage and keep hitting a defenseless knocked out opponent is a disgrace to the sport. They don’t deserve to be called professional fighters.
