UFC fans have called for Dana White to axe Rodolfo Bellato for seemingly pretending to be knocked out by an illegal upkick from Paul Craig.
The pair’s rescheduled light-heavyweight showdown in Atlanta ended in a No Contest this morning after the Brazilian was deemed unable to continue after being kicked in the face.
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Scottish submission specialist Craig struck a postured-up Bellato – who had one knee on the canvas – with the kick seconds before the end of the first round.
Bellato initially looked like he’d been knocked out by the strike as he lay on the canvas with his arms sprawled out.
But replays showed the Dana White‘s Contenders Series contract winner was still conscious as he theatrically fell to the mat.
Bellato seemingly regained consciousness very quickly and, in an apparent daze, tried to protect himself by scooting his back to the cage wall.
The former LFA champion was deemed unable to keep fighting, resulting in the contest being ruled a No Contest.
MMA fans weren’t convinced Bellato was genuinely hurt by the upkick and took to X to call for the UFC to cut the 29-year-old for play-acting.
One wrote: “Rodolfo Bellato faked a brutal KO just to try and get a cheap win over Paul Craig.
“What a complete embarrassment!!! The UFC needs to cut him immediately.”
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Another said: “Cut his a** immediately!
And another said: “I told my son right away he was obviously faking, thinking Craig would be disqualified. Absolutely insane.”
One remarked: “Bro protested and faked being concussed all in the space of five seconds. Embarrassment to the sport.”
Another chimed in: “Yeah, Dana should fire this guy immediately. Who does that?”
One stunned viewer said: “That dive by Bellato was top tier.”
Craig addressed the narrative that Bellato flopped in his post-fight press conference, saying: “A few people messaged me regarding this.
I don’t want to think any fighter is looking for an easy way out in this sport.”
Paul Craig on Rodolfo Bellato’s apparent playacting
“And they’re saying that it looked a bit floppish, like he was maybe hamming it up.
“I don’t want to think any fighter is looking for an easy way out in this sport. We’re all fighters.
“We’re all in the UFC, the pinnacle of our careers, and we’re looking to put on a performance.
“But I can see where people are looking at and think it looks a bit ‘floppishly’, ‘he’s maybe taking a dive.’
“I don’t really think that, but I’ll need to watch it back. It’s raw at the moment.”
