UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 had a lot to compete with on Saturday night. With the NBA playoffs in action and USFL debut, as well as Errol Spence Jr. vs Yordenis Ugas battling in Dallas, Texas for control of three of the four world welterweight world titles. Combined with an underwhelming card, it was a slow night for the UFc, despite the entire event being free on ESPN. Nonetheless, there was some reactions on social media during the night. Here’s the UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 Twitter reactions that stood out.
***Language Warning: Some of the tweets below contain profanity***
Aljamain Sterling Wasn’t Happy With the Officiating
🧐🧐🧐
Guess we’re all actors! #UFCVegas51 pic.twitter.com/qd2OPR8mVN— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling had a thing or five to say about the illegal knee by Caio Borralho in the latter’s victory at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2. Approaching the final minute of the fight, Borralho delivered a knee to the head of his opponent Gadzhi Omargadzhiev. What started as a point deduction from Borralho turned into a technical decision in his favor when Omargadzhiev couldn’t continue the contest. Borralho got the victory as he had dominated the rest of the fight.
Of course, Sterling has a personal relationship with illegal knees to the head. He sustained such a shot last spring in his first bout for the championship against Petr Yan. The fight was called and Sterling won the fight and the title, starting some controversy. Last month at UFC 273: Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie, however, Sterling unified his claim, defeating Yan outright.
I like Borralho, but how do you get a win here? I’m super confused… sucks that the ref you have for the night pretty much dictates how a foul is interpreted. No consistency. Should be a NC at best. #UFCVegas51
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 17, 2022
Junior Dos Santos Chimes in On Another Officiating Gaffe
The Borralho/Omargadziev fight was the second bout of the night to end in a technical decision after an opponent was unable to continue following an illegal shot. Martin Buday defeated Chris Barnett, getting the unanimous decision after hitting Barnett with an elbow to the back of the head. After the UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou had quickly weighed in with his verdict, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos provided a more elaborate response.
Clearly intentional!
I don’t know what kind shit is going in on those guys heads. and the referee saying it was an accident. BS.
Elbow on the back of the head is never, never an accident. Why it’s so hard for those *** apply the f rules https://t.co/DsS1kYrE91— Junior Dos Santos 🅾️➕ (@junior_cigano) April 17, 2022
Controversial Criticism from Daniel Cormier
Working ringside at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2, former UFC two-division champion Cormier took to Twitter to share his critique of the officiating following the Borralho decision. As the one conducting the interviews for the evening as well, there were people in the comments section that felt that Cormier’s behavior wasn’t professional. What do you think – Was he out of line?
So win 2 rounds, throw unintentional illegal strike and then hope they guy can’t continue. So that y’all go to judges right then. Shit you don’t run the risk of losing
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) April 17, 2022
Fight Bonus Prediction for Fiahlo
Andre Fialho’s finish of Miguel Baeza was immediately one of the best finishes of the night. TSN reporter Aaron Bronsteter tweeted his analysis in real-time and suggested Fialho should earn on of the available $50,000 bonuses for his performance. On Sunday morning, the UFC announced that Fiahlo indeed did earn a bonus, grabbing one of the two “Performance of the Night” nods. You can check out all of the payouts and bonuses from UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 HERE.
Massive win for Fialho. Incredible barrage to put Baeza away and probably a bonus on the way as well.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 17, 2022
Reactions to the Main Event
By the time the main event between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad began, the buzz online certainly increased. Henry Cejudo, a former champion in the UFC, chimed in to provide his thoughts on the upset victory by Muhammad, applauding his approach. Alptekin Ozkilic, reportedly the first Islamic fighter in the UFC, also shared his approval of the game plan by Muhammad. It was well documented that Muhammad’s approach to his fight with Luque faced another challenge by the impact of the Islamic observance of Ramadan which includes fasting during daytime hours.
What a great executed game plan by @bullyb170 . Great fight. Alhamdulillah @ufc #UFCVegas51 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
— Alptekin Ozkilic (@alpozkilicmma) April 17, 2022
Athletes and others from the entertainment industry often tweet during UFC events, and on Saturday night, singer Zayn Malik was checking in. The former One Direction member pushed back against those commenting on the lackluster main event. He clearly appeared to be pulling for Muhammad’s upset.
People talking shit about this being boring – luque is a fuckin beast- you go hold him off like this! Get a Take down every round !
then come back and talk Muhammad smashing it!! #UFCVegas51— zayn (@zaynmalik) April 17, 2022
