After Herb Dean’s controversial stoppage resulted in his loss against Adriano Moraes, Phumi Nkuta knocked on the California State Athletic Commission’s door. The South African-American appealed against Dean’s decision in his fight on Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions inaugural MMA event in May, arguing that the veteran referee prematurely stopped the fight during the finishing submission sequence and that he was never actually out. 

On Monday, he traveled from Las Vegas to Sacramento, California, to attend the hearing, but the verdict ultimately didn’t go his way. According to CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster, he reviewed the stoppage more than 80 times but couldn’t find any conclusive evidence to overturn the result.

“We watched this replay,” Foster said during the hearing. “I bet I’ve watched it 80 times now. We’ve watched it over and over. I’m still unsure when he went unconscious. When we’re not sure about something, it needs to be clear and convincing evidence if this commission is going to flip a fight, just to be very clear. I can’t tell you in any definitive way at what point are we flipping the fight? 

“What I can tell you is Mr. Nkuta would’ve won that fight, had he not been choked. I can tell you that. That was going to happen. The question for the commissioners is, and you can watch the tape and get your own opinion, is: at what point was he unconscious?”

Though the CSAC remained divided over the stoppage, reports confirmed that they ended up voting against Phumi Nkuta’s appeal to overturn the fight result on the Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano card in May. Still, Foster’s statement made one thing pretty clear. If a fighter fails to provide conclusive evidence challenging the finish, the referee’s final decision will stand. However, there was a time when a commission actually reversed a result after a fighter presented compelling evidence.

In 2015, Drew Dober contested referee Eduardo Herdy’s decision in his UFC fight against Leandro Silva in Brazil. The lightweight conclusively proved that he wasn’t unconscious from Silva’s guillotine choke and that the official had prematurely stopped the fight. As a result, the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) overturned the bout’s outcome, changing it to a no-contest. 

When it comes to the stoppage itself, Herb Dean also admitted that the sequence left him with some uncertainty. Adriano Moraes had Phumi Nkuta locked in a rear-naked choke during the third and final round, which the veteran referee stopped with what he described as only a “fraction of a second” to spare in an interview with Ariel Helwani. Dean also revealed that he rewatched the replay multiple times to make absolutely sure of his call, but ultimately maintained that the “right decision” was made. The fight was stopped at 4:59 seconds of the final rounding handing the win to Adriano Moraes.

However, Phumi Nkuta remained adamant that he was never unconscious when the stoppage occurred. He also argued during the hearing that Herb Dean never immediately waved off the fight during the finishing sequence, suggesting the referee himself wasn’t fully convinced by the stoppage in the moment.

Phumi Nkuta remains firm on Herb Dean’s error during the CSAC hearing  

Talking about the controversial finishing sequence, Phumi Nkuta told the commission during the hearing that his eyes were still moving when the bell sounded. He also accused his opponent, Adriano Moraes, of holding the choke longer than necessary after the stoppage.

“If you see on the film as well, my eyes are squinting, my eyes are moving when the bell sounds,” Nkuta said. “From my perspective, I hear the bell. Obviously, it’s for you guys and the commission to decide. I think the one clear thing here is that Moraes did hold that choke for the extended amount of time. For anyone who has grappled before at a high level, or at any juncture, knows when you’ve held a choke in for a requisite amount of time, every second counts.

“He got the choke in in nine seconds. We’re already nine seconds in and Herb gets his hands on him. While Herb is prying his hands, he’s still holding the choke. Now, if he’d let go immediately, we’d have a clearer distinction of, ‘Ok, he was unconscious.'”

Phumi Nkuta believes that Adriano Moraes actually committed a foul by holding the choke for too long after the stoppage, something Herb Dean never called. However, CSAC commissioner Dr. AnnaMaria De Mars didn’t consider the foul “egregious” enough to warrant overturning the result. 

With so much controversy surrounding the Phumi Nkuta vs. Adriano Moraes fight, there’s a real possibility that the two could meet again in a rematch to settle the rivalry once and for all.