Rivera will appeal loss to Faber
Francisco Rivera: “When I felt it, I covered myself. I was trying to tell the ref: ‘My eye! My eye!’ I felt Faber hitting me. I couldn’t see. He was on my left side.”
Urijah Faber is a tremendous ambassador for mixed martial arts. He runs a leading team, fights himself at the top of the game, is successful in other business ventures, and more. On Saturday night he made a mistake, driving his finger into Francisco Rivera’s eye like something out of a Thee Stooges replay, or a 1970s ad for Kung Fu lessons in the back of a comic book.
Rivera was unfortunately unfamiliar with the defense.
Rivera reacted as if he had just been jabbed in the eye, but unfortunately referee Mario Yamasaki did not see it. Rivera shelled up without mounting an attack, and Faber finished him with a Bulldog choke, the second of the night.
It was only afterwards that Faber even realized his finger had inadvertently struck Rivera in the eye.
If Yamasaki had seen the eye poke, he would have stopped the contest. If he determined Rivera was unable to continue, as only a little more than one round had elapsed, it would have been declared a No Contest. He of course did not see it.
Now Rivera’s management plans to ask the Nevada Athletic Commission to overturn the decision. Further, Rivera asked UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby for a rematch; that discussion will continue this week.
“When I felt it, I covered myself,” said Rivera to Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting. “I was trying to tell the ref: ‘My eye! My eye!’ I felt Faber hitting me. I couldn’t see. He was on my left side and I couldn’t see out of my left eye.”
“I don’t know what the hell happened. It felt like all his fingers were in my eyes. That’s how bad it is.”
“Everybody is making a big deal about how many subs he has. It sucks for me. It’s not like he dropped me and subbed me. He really, really poked my eye. Accidental or not, what am I supposed to do, fight with my eyes closed?”
“I thought that I was heading toward one of the best performances of my life. I was stuffing takedowns, using my movement, slowly picking him apart.
“I felt like I won that first round. I stuffed a few of his takedowns. I think he was freaked about that.”
The NAC is highly unlikely to overturn the decision, but Rivera is adamant about a rematch.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” said Rivera.