UFC Fight Night 53 takes place this Saturday, live on UFC Fight Pass. In a highly unusual move one of the fights on the undercard was denied by the local regulating body, the Svenska MMA Förbundet (Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation).
As reported first by MMAJunkie, a fight between Dennis Siver and French featherweight Taylor Lapilus was denied. The UFC then offered Charles Rosa, who was accepted.
Now the SMMAF has released an official statement as to their reasoning.
Regarding the request for replacement of contender to Mr. Dennis Siver at the UFC event on October 4th in Stockholm, Sweden
The Board of the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation (SMMAF) has reviewed the request comprising two options for contender to Mr. Siver put forth by the UFC: the first option regarding Mr. Taylor Lapilus (France) and the second option regarding Mr. Charles Rosa (USA).
The Board has made the following ruling.
Mr. Taylor Lapilus
After having reviewed the information submitted as well as having viewed footage of Mr. Lapilus, the Board of SMMAF must regrettably declare that the request regarding Mr Lapilus as a contender to Mr. Siver has been denied. The grounds for the denial is the inexperience of the athlete in question as based on his age, his technical skill, his record and his overall short background in MMA. This gives reason to believe that he has limited, if any, sparring and competition experience outside of the official record. It is therefore our judgement that a full-contact, professional MMA match between Mr. Lapilus and Mr. Siver would be an uneven match-up to the point where we Mr. Lapilus’ safety can not be guaranteed.
Mr. Charles Rosa
The Board of SMMAF hereby declares that the request for Mr. Rose as contender to Mr. Siver has been approved, and the match is authorized for the event on October 4th in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mixed martial arts under the Unified Rules remains forbidden in France. Bouts there are characteristically conducted without striking on the ground, a hybrid of kickboxing and grappling. Although Lapilus is on a three-fight win streak, his last fight was against a 1-1 fighter, the one before that was a split decision win over a 1-3 fighter, and the one before that was a win, but also against a 1-3 fighter. The one before that was a decision loss to undefeated Russian Magomed Bibulatov, just under a year ago.
Rosa is a undefeated fighter who fought mainly out of Massachusetts. His performances were so dominant, he has only seen a ring card girl once in his professional career. Albeit the competition was not at Dennis Siver’s level.
