MMA Fighter Disqualified After Front Flipping Off Opponent’s Back

MMA Fighter Disqualified After Front Flipping Off Opponent’s Back
John Smithies
3/27/2018
Updated:
9/26/2019

An MMA fighter has been disqualified after he won his first professional fight---for front flipping off his opponent’s back.

Legacy Fighting Alliance competitor Drew Chatman was about to win his first victory on Friday, March 23 in Cabazon, California, after his opponent, Irvins Ayala, knocked himself out while attempting to pin Chatman.

But after the referee awarded the win, Chatman stood on Ayala’s back and did a front flip.

Chatman was disqualified by the referee for striking his opponent after the bell, and the win was awarded to Ayala.

Chatman, 23, was suspended for 90 days by the California State Athletic Commission and his pay was withheld, mmafighting.com reported.

Speaking to the website, Chatman said he “subconsciously” did what he normally does after winning fights.

“Normally, I celebrate my fights,” he said. “If you see all my amateur fights, I’m doing flips, I’m doing cartwheels or whatever the case may be. I didn’t think before I did it. I just jumped and did a flip. So it was almost like subconsciously I did what I normally what I would do celebrating a victory that I normally get.”

The clip of the bizarre turn of events had earned over 1.5 million views at the time of writing.

Chatman told mmafighting.com that he didn’t deserve to be paid after doing the flip.

“At the end of the day, when you actually look at what took place, I’m OK with having my pay taken away,” he said. “I’m OK with being suspended 90 days. I’m OK with that. Because you can’t get that back. The video is priceless. I have to look back at that and live with regret every single day.”