Amy Montenegro smiles for the cameras during her Invicta 21 post-fight interview last Jan. 14 at the Sottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo : YouTube/Invicta Fighting Championships)
Submission victories show off a fighter's prowess in Brazilian jiu jitsu, which is one of the pillars of mixed martial arts. So it would be right for fans would assume that if a fighter passes out due to a choke, his or her opponent automatically wins the fight. Weirdly enough however, this was not the case during Invicta 21 when Amy Montenegro went up against Celine Haga.
The fight between the two was shown on UFC Fight Pass, which gave it some much needed coverage. Montenegro edged out her opposition during the majority of the fight. However, a mistake late into the third round saw her get caught it in a nasty choke and she went unconscious as a result.
The final bell rang just as this happened, but the referee decided that the judges' scorecards would decide the bout. This was controversial, as many believed that the submission victory should have been awarded to Haga, CBS Sports reported. The back and forth contest was added to Montenegro's win column.
This definitely was not how Haga wanted her debut in the organization to pan out. Many fight fans also had mixed reactions about the outcome of the fight, with some saying that Montenegro fell unconscious before the bell. There were also those who defended the referee's decision.
Invicta has put up some great fights in the past, but this one will surely go down in the history books. This has been one of the most bizarre and controversial outcomes to a fight in any MMA promotion. There have been a lot of close fights in mixed martial arts, but a second or 2 more could have completely altered the outcome of this contest.
The referee defended his decision to take the fight to a decision. He claims that he did not stop the fight due to the submission due to the fact that Montenegro only went unconscious after the final bell had sounded.
Montenegro won the fight via 29-28 scores despite being choked out. She and Haga also won "Fight of the Night" honors, which comes with an extra $1,500 to their respective purses, thanks to their exciting yet bizzare bout, MMA Junkie reported.
Watch the complete fight between Montenegro and Haga here:
