UFC News: Suspended Ihor Potieria Calls for “Justice” as Dana White’s Decision After Illegal Knee Costs Him 3 Crucial Months

A distraught Ihor Potieria recently expressed his dissatisfaction with Dana White and Co. after his submission defeat to Michel Pereira at UFC 301. However, it was not the loss that he was sounding his woes about. Rather, it was the backflip from Pereira, which rendered him medically uncleared for a fight he was scheduled to compete in.

UFC 301 was an eventful outing for ‘Demolidor’ as he secured another quick-fire finish. He even extended his winning streak from 7 to 8 fights, but the same cannot be said for Ihor Potieria. The latter believes that the decision of the fight should be overturned, according to his latest statement.

Ihor Potieria questions Dana White’s decision to let the illegal knee slide

Kneeing a downed opponent is a huge no-no in the UFC. This could result in disqualification or points deduction. However, that’s not how the UFC and Dana White handled the situation at UFC 301. Although Michel Pereira was applauded for his performance against Ihor Potieria, his acrobatic fighting style proved detrimental to the Ukranian fighter.

During the fight, Ihor Potieria found himself in a grounded position as Michel Pereira was trying to get through to the ‘Duelist’. In that attempt, the Brazilian decided to go ahead with his signature backflip kick, which did not connect the way he envisioned. Pereira’s kick ended up being a knee strike, which we’ve mentioned earlier, is illegal.

However, the fight ended up being in favor of ‘Demolidor’, which seems to have enraged his opponent. The consequence of that illegal knee was for Potieria to face as he was deemed medically unfit to compete for three months.

Apparently, ‘Duelist’ was on the card for the UFC’s first-ever event in Saudi Arabia. And who was he going to fight? His opponent was supposed to be Russian star Sharaputdin Magomedov, but the scheduled clash eventually got scrapped. But Ihor Potieria is not ready to keep his mouth closed as he demanded that Dana White consider overturning his loss into a no-contest.

Meanwhile, Magomedov has come out to bash Michel Pereira for his recklessness and challenged him to fight in Potieria’s spot. Let’s turn our attention to that development.

Sharaputdin Magomedov demands Michel Pereira to fill in for Potieria

The 29-year-old Russian just unloaded on Michel Pereira for being the reason behind the cancellation of the fight against Ihor Potieira. He shared a tweet, calling ‘Demolidor’ a “circus” act for his flashiness inside the Octagon and even claimed that he wanted a crack at him to put him in his place. “I lost my opponent because of you. Everyone knows that you can do backflips now, but UFC is not a circus. You made an illegal move, and now you have to punished,” stated Sharaputdin Magomedov.

With the sole purpose of putting Michel Pereira in his place, Sharaputdin Magomedov even called him out to fill in for Ihor Potieria for a clash at the UFC’s first Middle Eastern Fight Night in Saudi Arabia. “Let me deal with this clown, ship him to Saudi Arabia 22 June and I will quickly teach him a lesson,” Magomedov added while sending a message to Dana White as well.

It now depends on Dana White and how he goes about this situation. Will he book the fight that Sharaputdin Magomedov wants? We will find that out in the days and weeks to come.