Never turn your back: UFC fighter sins against the basic rules in sport

“Never turn your back on your opponent when the clock is running” is one of the basic rules of any martial arts. Spike ‘Alpha Ginger’ Carlyle experienced that to his shame on Sunday, despite his 27 years and extensive experience as an MMA fighting jacket.

UFC fighter Spike Carlyle sinned against one of the most important rules in his sport last weekend. During his camp with Billy Quarantillo during UFC Apex in Las Vegas, he ostentatiously turned his back on his opponent, thinking that the round was over.

Only there were still a few seconds on the clock. The time that Quarantillo used to surprise the ‘Alpha Ginger’. Although that was not a knockout, so the camp between the two continued to fascinate. On Twitter, the UFC fans did not understand. “What is he doing?”

Unanimous decision

Carlyle started as a fireball at the camp: he immediately had a kick on Quarantillo, followed by a series of strokes. Carlyle continued to choose an entire opening round for the attack, where his opponent waited patiently.

In the second round, Quarantillo countered more and more, while his American compatriot had a harder time physically. But even then, Carlyle remained surprisingly stable.

Only in the third round did the advantage definitely go to Quarantillo, who regularly searched for ‘submissions’ and hit several times. In the end, the refs unanimously gave the victory to Quarantillo, who was awarded 29-28 three times.

“What a wild fight” was the first reaction from Quarantillo (31), who recorded his seventh consecutive victory and his second in the UFC, after only making his debut in the octagon last year.