The ONE Championship: Unbreakable III main event ended in controversy.
Alyona Rassohyna secured a guillotine choke and submitted Stamp Fairtex in the final seconds of the three-round main event, which aired on Friday, Feb. 5.
But Fairtex is claiming that she didn’t tap.
In a post made to her Instagram account, Fairtex stated:
“I got caught in a guillotine, but I still can breath. I tried to reach with my hand to push my opponent’s face but it got stucked on her elbow. The referee thought I tapped.
“Anyway I have to say I fought with my full heart and did my best. I would like to say thank you to everyone who support me. Sorry that I make you disapponted. I would like to ask for a rematch, to make it all clear. Congratulations to my opponent, I respect the referee’s decision.”
It was a strange series of events at ONE: Unbreakable III as Fairtex obviously tapped Rassohyna’s right shoulder and Olivier Coste stepped in to end the contest. But Fairtex stood up and immediately protested Coste’s decision to stop the bout, seemingly exclaiming that she didn’t tap.
As for The Body Lock’s Patrick Auger and Drake Riggs, there’s no arguing that Fairtex tapped. Riggs says. “This was 100% a tap, no question about it. It was about a clear as tap as you can get.”
But it leads to a number of important questions, including whether ONE Championship will consider overturning the decision, the same way that they have done so in the past for controversies involving its star fighters.
Whether it’s erasing Giorgio Petrosyan’s stunning defeat to Petchmorrakot Petchyindee in 2019 or bending the suplex rules, ONE Championship has a history of getting involved in controversial outcomes.
What did you think about Stamp Fairtex’s tap? Do you think ONE Championship will attempt to overturn this decision?
Let us know in the comments section below!
