Josh Thomson appealing Bellator 172 knockout loss to Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire

Bellator 172: “Thomson vs. Pitbull” took place back on Feb. 18, 2017 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The original main event was to be “Fedor vs. Mitrione,” but Matt Mitrione was forced off the card due to kidney stones just hours before the event was set to take place.

Moved up to the main event slot, the locally popular Josh “The Punk” Thomson was expected to thrill the hometown crowd, but instead was leveled by Patricky “Pitbull” Freire 40 seconds into the second round.

The finish was controversial as an inadvertent (and illegal) headbutt that proceeded the knockout blow may have left Thomson woozy before the final uppercut, arguably changing the entire outcome of the fight.

For that reason, CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster confirmed to MMA Junkie that Thomson has formally filed an appeal of the ruling, asking that the knockout loss be overturned and ruled as a “no contest” instead. Referee “Big” John McCarthy will testify as to what happened during the appeal.

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