The UFC 315 co-main event title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot did not disappoint. But guess what? That bout was not without controversy. At the end of the second round, the French contender got a little too zesty as she delivered a knee strike while the flyweight champion was still grounded. As such, there was a barrage of reactions on social media when the illegal move went unnoticed.

Manon Fiorot was busted open in the very first round of her title fight, with Shevchenko dominating most of the fight. However, in the second round, the Frenchwoman seemed like he was getting her footing in the matchup, but then controversy struck. Fiorot and Shevchenko found each other on the fence, and the former was putting on the offense on the champion when she appeared to hit the champion with an illegal knee.

Why was it illegal? Well, ‘Bullet’ had one knee grounded, which means that landing a knee on her was illegal on Manon Fiorot’s part. However, the referee didn’t seem like he saw the knee from the French star, and the fight continued and ended after twenty-five minutes. Regardless, the illegal knee strike didn’t really matter to Shevchenko since she’d go on to win the fight via a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 48-47 in favor of the 125lbs queen.

We have certainly seen a fair share of illegal knees landed in title bouts in the past. Remember UFC 259’s co-main event between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. This was the infamous night when ‘Aljo’ won the bantamweight title via disqualification after the Russian champion landed an illegal knee while Sterling was grounded.

Or UFC 235? The night when Anthony Smith could have realised his championship aspirations. For the unversed, Jon Jones landed an illegal knee when ‘Lionheart’ leaned against the cage. However, Smith decided to continue the bout instead of taking the DQ win and went on to lose the bout and his tryst with gold.

This certainly created an opening for the MMA community to talk about the knee strike on social media. But the fans weren’t the only ones who shared their reactions to the fight, as a former UFC champion chimed in as well.

Was Manon Fiorot’s knee really illegal? Fans weigh in on UFC 315 co-main event

Former double champion Henry Cejudo was one of the first UFC fighters to point out the illegal knee. He’s been on the receiving end of some illegal moves in his last fight, so he wasn’t going to keep quiet about this incident. Claiming that such things cannot happen in a fight, Cejudo stated, “That knee from Fiorot was illegal. You can’t do that,” on X.

Thereafter, fans started going at the officials. “Worst judge/ref combo ever,” one fan commented, as another fan questioned why the knee went unnoticed. “How do you miss an illegal knee like that?” The fans weren’t letting the judges and the referee get off the hook so easily. After witnessing how the knee went unnoticed, fans deemed the officials as NPCs (Non-playable characters in video games), while lauding Manon Fiorot for her game plan.

That fan added, “Smart from Manon. Cage pushing SHOULD count for NOTHING. But in a close round, these NPC judges will treat it like gold.” This led an X user to recall the moment when Conor McGregor dissed Joe Rogan for calling him out on landing an illegal knee at UFC 229. “Reminds me of McGregor mocking Joe Rogan. ‘That was an illegal lead to a grounded opponent. SHUT UP YA FOOL,’ that fan added.

Meanwhile, after observing what Manon Fiorot did, there was one fan who didn’t find anything wrong because the knee didn’t hit Valentina Shevchenko in the head. “It was actually a knee to the arms, so notably NOT a foul. Read the rules. Fiorot bringing out unusual tactics.” Moreover, one fan believed that every move is legal if the referees don’t catch the fighter during a matchup. “She did that, and nothing happened. So, it’s legal if the referee cannot see,” said that fan.

Well, what do you think? Which side of the fandom are you leaning towards – the ones who are calling out the illegal knee or the ones who believe there’s nothing wrong with what Manon Fiorot did? Drop your comments below.