UFC 305 was momentarily brought to a halt when Australian fighter Stewart Nicoll was knocked out cold in Perth’s RAC Arena.
Making his UFC debut, the 29-year-old Aussie’s flyweight clash with Mexican Jesus Aguilar ended in a horrific scene on Sunday morning.
Nicoll had made a promising start until Aguilar took control with just under three minutes to go in the first round.
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The Mexican had Nicoll in a strong guillotine choke until he realised something was wrong.
It was Aguilar himself who brought Nicoll’s state of unconsciousness to the referee’s attention.
Aguilar still had Nicoll in the hold when the referee picked the Aussie’s arm up twice to see if it was limp.
When he soon realised the fighter had gone to sleep in the choke, the fight was quickly called off.
Clearly concerned about his opponent, the Mexican immediately let go and bounced to his feet and tried bring Nicoll back into consciousness.
He lifted the Aussie’s feet up in the air and shook them in an attempt to wake him up.
Nicoll remained sprawled out on the ground for several minutes as medical staff rushed into the cage to assist him.
They eventually got him back to his feet and the two fighters embraced in what was a nice moment.
Later in the card, Australia’s Casey O’Neill won in a unanimous decision over Luana Santos in UFC 305’s lone women’s bout.
O’Neill broke out Raygun-inspired dance moves to celebrate.
Aussie Josh Culibao lost the next bout to Ricardo Ramos in a split decision while there was controversy when Aussie heavyweight Junior Tafa was ruled to have submitted to Valter Walker.
Walker won by a technical submission ankle lock in the dying seconds of the opening round after the referee apparently heard a verbal tap-out, but Australian Tafa was adamant he didn’t tap out.
Tafa confronted Walker and slapped him after the bout, before the pair were separated.
Cult figure Tai Tuivasa lost in a split decision that saw a judge immediately pulled from the event.
Perth’s own Steve Erceg then lost to New Zealand’s returning star Kai Kara-France in a first-round technical knockout.
– with AAP