Saturday night, at The Bellator Fighting Championships’ season-five heavyweight tournament finale, Thiago Santos was controlling Eric Prindle pretty handily, until he punt kicked the prone Prindle in the junk.
Had the punt been ruled intentional, Santos likely would have been disqualified, and Prindle would have taken the tournament crown, a six-figure payout, and a title shot against Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad. However, the bout was declared a No Contest, after the referee Greg Franklin determined the kick was unintentional, and Prindle was unable to continue.
Prindle has publicly questioned how the kick could have been ruled unintentional.
The referee disagrees. “It looked like he was trying to kick the back of his hamstring,” Franklin said. “And when he swung his leg, it caught [Prindle] right between the legs,” Franklin said on Tuesday. “So, I didn’t deem that it was intentional.”
“I had to pull (Thiago Santos’) trainer in because he doesn’t speak English, and I tried to explain to him what was going on. He tried to plead his case and basically state that he wasn’t going for the groin, which I had already made my decision that I didn’t think it was an intentional shot.
“It wouldn’t have mattered whether he pleaded his case or not. I’d already made my decision, and I wasn’t going to change my decision.”
Bellator will book a rematch in 2012 to decide the tournament champion.
Prindle’s swollen nut, which is currently having its 15 minutes of fame, has been prescribed an anti-inflammatory steroid.
