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Paul Craig made his octagon return to square off against Rodolfo Bellato at UFC Atlanta this past Saturday. The light heavyweight bout concluded the preliminary card of the Fight Night event, held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and had major controversy.
The UFC Atlanta fight between Craig and Bellato was deemed a no contest. Craig struck Bellato with an illegal upkick and the Brazilian was unable to continue.
While upkicks are legal in the UFC, they can only be struck on a standing opponent. Bellato had one knee down, which made him a grounded opponent. Striking a grounded opponent with an upkick is not allowed in the UFC.
Craig was initially set to face Bellato in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 106 last month, however, the Brazilian pulled out due to a medical issue. The 37-year-old Craig was on a three-fight losing skid, most recent being a unanimous decision loss against Bo Nickal at UFC 309. Meanwhile, Bellato's last octagon appearance at UFC 312 ended in a draw where he faced Jimmy Crute.
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Following 'BearJew's' unsuccessful takedown attempts, Bellato took the fight to the ground in their rescheduled bout. 'Trator' was aiming to end the fight with his ground and pound blows when the Scottish fighter landed an upkick with just seconds remaining in the first round. The referee Kevin MacDonald went to check on Bellato, who was reportedly knocked out cold, looked confused by the entire sequence.
Check out the post below:
The bout was called off and it was up to MacDonald to determine whether Craig should be disqualified for his illegal maneuver or a no contest, as he chose the latter. Due to Craig's unintentional foul, in-ring announcer Joe Martinez declared it a no contest.
Check out the fight result below:
Notably, earlier this month at UFC 316, referee Vitor Ribeiro took a point from Julianna Pena after Pena landed an illegal upkick to Kayla Harrison in the opening round of their bantamweight title contest.
