TUF winner Michael Chiesa has issued an apology after storming out of the Octagon prior to the official decision after picking up the first loss of his career against Jorge Masvidal at UFC On FOX 8.
Chiesa had been in the ascendancy in the first round of his fight with Masvidal, even knocking the former Strikeforce fighter to the mat at one point, but the tide started to turn in ‘Gamebred’s’ favor over the course of the second round.
Deep into the round Masvidal locked in a d’arce choke, and while Chiesa appeared to be ok at first he was finally forced to tap only to have the bell for the end of the round sound just one second later.
Clearly distraught by the unfortunate outcome which occurred in front of fans from his own home state, Chiesa then walked past matchmaker Joe Silva who was attempting to commiserate with him, and then headed straight out of the Octagon and back to the dressing room without waiting for the official announcement to be made.
“I want to say sorry to my fans&the viewers for storming out of the cage. 1 second is a hard pill to swallow, no excuse 4 being a poor sport,” Chiesa stated on Twitter.
He also offered his congratulations to his opponent on Twitter who responded in kind.
“My hats off to @GamebredFighter, I’ve been watching you for years and it was an honor to share the octagon with you. I’ll come back better,” Chiesa wrote.
“@MikeMav22 The honor is mine. I may have talked a lot of shit but you’re a tough kid- you rocked me good a couple times! Mad props brother!” Masvidal responded.
The defeat brought an end to Chiesa’s eight-fight unbeaten run as a professional a little over a year after he first reached the UFC by winning the 15th edition of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
Those who watched ‘Maverick’ on that show will know that this was an uncharacteristic lapse in judgement from a generally well liked fighter and so it’s unlikely that the UFC will punish him too harshly for his actions, though no doubt they’ll warn him that they don’t want a repeat performance of this in the future.
