Gabriel Gonzaga to Appeal Loss to Travis Browne with NSAC
Many thought Travis Browne landed a few illegal downward elbows to a knocked out Gabriel Gonzaga in their heavyweight bout at the TUF Finale. And apparently, Gonzaga’s team is among those believers, set to challenge the ruling on Browne’s Knockout of the Night victory.
For those watching the fight, it ended quickly as Gonzaga attempted to drag Browne down to the mat. With a failed single leg being worked on, Browne nailed Gonzaga’s head with a rapid succession of brutal elbows. The last few may have appeared to hit Gonzaga on the back of the head while he was unconscious, but the bout was still ruled a victory for ‘Hapa’. Tatame reported on the claim that Gonzaga and his team will make.
The appeal may garner a no-contest for Gonzaga, and perhaps a rematch with Browne. But I see any rematch as a vast longshot, as Dana White saw Gonzaga get dominated despite any legalities that may have marred the victory. We’ll see if the NSAC is truly willing to budge on their original ruling.
Other fans and media thought that the Kelvin Gastelum vs. Uriah Hall bout should have been ruled differently, so the TUF 17 Finale was most definitely not without its judging and officiating controversies. Browne appeared to handle Gonzaga with relative ease, but illegal strikes are illegal strikes, and must be acknowledged if they truly had bearing on the fight.
In this case, they no doubt did, and will be reviewed. Is this an instance where Gonzaga’s team should continue to press the issue, or should they accept the defeat and move on? I thought a couple of the elbows may have been to the back of Gonzaga’s head because he slumped downward when knocked out. What is your stance on the controversy?
