Stephan Bonnar loses UFC 110 appeal to overturn TKO stoppage

by Jesse Holland on Mar 10, 2010 1:04 PM EST

UFC light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar lost his appeal to overturn the wrong end of a TKO ruling he suffered at the hands (or head) of Krzysztof Soszynski when the pair threw leather at last month's UFC 110 event from the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, according to TSN.ca.

"The American Psycho" blames referee John Sharp for missing an inadvertent headbutt that busted him open in the third round of their 205-pound war, causing Bonnar to leak all over himself, Soszynski and the better part of the Octagon floor.

He attempted to have the ruling reversed to a technical draw based on the nature of the stoppage, but also still wants to prove to fight fans he would have been victorious "Down Under."

That chance may come when the two collide in a rematch penciled in for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 Finale, which is scheduled for June 19 in Las Vegas.

"The Polish Experiment" has been gracious throughout the ordeal and like Bonnar, wants his win to come from being the better fighter, which he may get the chance to prove (again) if the June 19 rematch comes to fruition.

While UFC President Dana White has already gone on record about keeping Bonnar on the payroll, the once formidable contender still has a lot to lose after dropping three straight bouts.

Conversely, Soszynski has won four out of five since his UFC debut in December of 2008 and could continue his rise through the light heavyweight ranks if he can finish what he started back in February.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing bout, as well as additional details on the Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale as they're released.

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Comments

Of course he lost the appeal

As overturning that HORRIBLE ruling would make sense and be the right thing to do. Feel bad for him. It’s complete shit.

hard for a 'tard

by L E E on Mar 10, 2010 1:17 PM EST reply actions

I do not understand how he could have possibly lost the appeal.

there's still something so unifying about sport in it's purest form, when athletes rise above themselves and touch greatness and in doing so remind us all that we also have greatness inside of us.

by RoBerto. on Mar 10, 2010 1:22 PM EST reply actions

y even have apeal process, if the ruklings NEVER get overturned regardless of how much evidence there is?

Just a Bunch of crap!

btw: MATT WIMAN VS. MAC DANZIG AT UFC 115

by John G. on Mar 10, 2010 1:24 PM EST reply actions

Completely agree

I don’t get what they were looking at but it was obvious from the replay that they clashed heads and Bonnar immediately started bleeding from that incidental contact and the fight was called due to that cut. It’s rare the commission would ever admit a mistake though.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me…sorry for the pun.

"To me, MMA is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography and the dancers hit each other."

by Buster Bluth on Mar 10, 2010 1:27 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Exactly

The appeal process is a complete farce, no credibility whatsoever. I hate stuff like this, the Rumble fight where he got poked in the eye v Burns comes to mind also. How could this stuff not get overturned?

by domino effect on Mar 10, 2010 1:38 PM EST up reply actions

You guys seem surprised...

by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Mar 10, 2010 6:25 PM EST up reply actions

I don't understand how they can leave Big John out when these refs are horrible.

there's still something so unifying about sport in it's purest form, when athletes rise above themselves and touch greatness and in doing so remind us all that we also have greatness inside of us.

by RoBerto. on Mar 10, 2010 1:30 PM EST reply actions

some fishy shit going on in mma.

there's still something so unifying about sport in it's purest form, when athletes rise above themselves and touch greatness and in doing so remind us all that we also have greatness inside of us.

by RoBerto. on Mar 10, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions

that's just good ol dana, and fertittas flexin their muscle in NSAC.

Don’t for a second buy any of Kizer’s nonsense.

by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Mar 10, 2010 6:21 PM EST up reply actions

But didn't Big John actually say some critical stuff about the NSAC itself?

Couldn’t a personal beef with NSAC be the primary issue here? I realize that Dana has some serious pull with the NSAC, I just think John may have burned a bridge with more than just Dana and the Fertittas.

I can’t even remember what he said about the UFC when he was commentating that got them pissed off in the first place, to be honest.

by Canucklehead. on Mar 10, 2010 8:44 PM EST up reply actions

I wonder what criteria needs to be met

to actually have a ruling over turned. Its very clear what happened. If I were Bonnar I would be pissed. Its like in hockey when the ref calls a diving penalty but also gets the other guy for tripping. Its impossible to have diving and tripping at the same time, you either tripped the guy or he dove. Total head scratcher that makes you question why you watch it.

by HEELHOOK on Mar 10, 2010 1:40 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

HEELHOOK...I'm with you on the hockey call! That has always annoyed the shit out of me.

What jtl1687 said makes sense, but still B.S. if you ask me! Call one or the other! Damn I fn can’t stand the refs in hockey…they are the worst with Basketball right behind! How can you call a foul that never happened???

by MBOW on Mar 10, 2010 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

The diving call is more of an embelishment call in a case like you mentioned. If someone gets tripped and the player wants to make sure the ref sees it and embelishes it it takes away from the integrity of the game so in some cases its plausible for both to occur imo.

In terms of the fight I cant see how this wouldnt be overturned. The main point is that the fight was stopped due to illegal contact. Result should be a no contest.

by jtl1687 on Mar 10, 2010 2:54 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Brin on the Instant Replay

It has been tossed around about bringing Instant Replay into the mix with MMA. Most people are against it, but this is where it would come in. In a controversial ending that obviously was wrong, the judges could go back and watch the infraction and change it to NC.

Every other sport has them for a reason. And they work.

by RU486 on Mar 10, 2010 4:49 PM EST reply actions

Football doesn't

Instant replays were brought in by the NSAC, hopefully more commissions follow suit. The appeals process is a joke and makes the sport look crooked.

"Not a lot of professional sports down here (in Australia)"
"We just had our best season (of TUF) last season and it was season 10"
"Nogueira is probabaly the best HW of all time"

Dana White, proving that he's clueless about Australian sports, has never heard of Fedor and is still trying to hype up TUF 10.

by David W-S on Mar 10, 2010 7:48 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I would be all for video replay

in all sports were goals are scored and penalties are called. Ive played and watch hockey my whole life and can hardly watch anymore do to officiating alone. Either Betman doeant want canadian teams winning or the reffing is just that bad. I think all goals and penalties should be reviewed, I would sit there for an extra 1 hr just to have a fair outcome at this point. Same as in MMA there have been so many bad call in the last couple of years that obviously something needs to change. Bonnar couldve been cut from the UFC for that loss and his carreer couldve been over, this is more serious than just a loss or a win, guys carreer is a stake!!!

by HEELHOOK on Mar 11, 2010 9:44 AM EST up reply actions