MMA Fighter Gets Karma for Front-Flipping off Knocked-out Opponent

An MMA fighter caught a lucky break to win his first-ever match, but his celebration of choice [...]

By Kelsey Patterson

An MMA fighter caught a lucky break to win his first-ever match, but his celebration of choice after the KO got him knocked out, too.

Fighter Drew Chatman entered the cage with Irvins Ayala for a LFA 36 match shown on AXS TV, broadcast live on Friday night.

During the duel, Chatman laid on his back and Ayala tried to throw a hammerfist, but his chin caught Chatman's knee on the way down and sent him stumbling to the mat.

The match when off air when the referee waved off the fight and awarded Chatman with his first ever victory, but the winner took his celebrations too far.

In behind-the-scenes footage, he is shown standing on the back of his passed-out opponent, then he attempted to land a front flip. The unnecessary and unsportsmanlike action ultimately disqualified Chatman from the match, and his knocked out opponent Ayala was awarded the victory.

MMA fans were shocked at the outcome of the preliminary match, with some slamming Chatman's dangerous actions and others cracking jokes about the reason for his celebration.

"Poor sportsmanship," one viewer criticized. Another added, "Lifetime ban for sure. That's some bulls— right there."

"How you gonna celebrate after the guy knocked himself out?" a fan asked, adding crying laughing face emojis. Another wrote, "Would've been an epic KO if he didn't do anything stupid."

Another cited Chatman's nickname to slam his behavior: "What a nickname, 'The Honourable.' That wasn't honorable at all from Drew Chatman."

Chatman spoke out about the incident on Saturday to MMA Fighting, defending his 'subconscious' actions.

"I threw a kick, he tripped me and as he came down, I moved my knee in a certain position and he had hit his chin to my knee," Chatman said. "At that moment, it happened so fast that my instincts just kicked in and I started punching. As he fell down to the floor, it was almost like I couldn't believe he was out, because it happened really quick. My natural reaction was just to get up."

"Normally, I celebrate my fights. 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 would do celebrating a victory that I normally get," he added.

Chatman, 23, received a 90-day suspension for the move and apologized after the bout, saying he didn't mean to bring shame to the sport.

"I want to apologize to Irvins Ayala," Chatman said. "He was a good opponent. And he brought the fight to me. And he had a lot of heart. It was not a good move on my part as a martial artist. And I want to apologize to the California athletic commission, because they laid down the rules, they gave a great understanding and they do their job very well. Also, to Legacy, LFA, because they gave me a great opportunity to display my skills and it was a good platform."

"I'm not gonna play the victim here, because when you look at it the real victim here is Irvins Ayala. Let's just be real. He showed up, he fought. It was an unfortunate mishap, but it did not have to end that way. All this publicity, all this media, the reality is I was wrong and I ain't trying to gain no fame off of this, because I'm a martial artist," he continued.

He was also withheld his $500 earning for the fight.

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