Paul Craig waited 14 weeks for this moment, only for it to unravel in one wild second. His bout against Rodolfo Bellato, originally scrapped from UFC Vegas 106, was finally rescheduled for UFC Atlanta. Craig was back at light heavyweight, healthy and motivated. But when the final bell never came, and the ref stepped in early, the story turned sideways.

“It’s horrible,” Craig admitted during the post-fight interview. “14 weeks, cancelled 4 weeks ago, moved now. The best shape I’ve ever been in, moving back up to light heavyweight, I was wanting to make a stamp in that division again and be like ‘Hey, I’m back, I’m fully healthy, not making massive cuts.’ But instead, controversy took center stage.

In Round 1, Bellato stood over Craig and threw strikes from the top. That’s when Craig launched a heavy upkick aimed at Bellato’s face. It looked like it landed flush in the moment, but illegally. Bellato dropped to the canvas, grimaced, and went limp. For a moment, it looked like he’d been knocked out cold.

Then it got even weirder. Seconds later, Bellato sprang to life, scooted to the cage, and tried grappling with referee Kevin Macdonald, clearly confused. The ref waved off the bout, and after a brief consultation with doctors, ruled it a no contest.

Craig didn’t hide from the blame as he shared, “I was moving well, landing my shots, shot selection was perfect. But in the heat of the moment, I thought he was standing up, so I throw my axe kick, looking to land a heavy upkick to his face. That was my intention.”

Yet the fans weren’t buying the Brazilian’s reactions. Many felt as though he was putting on an act to get a favorable result with one fan writing on X, “Give that man an Oscar.”

So, what did Paul Craig have to say about the ‘flopping’ accusations being leveled against his opponent? Surprisingly, the Scottish fighter shared, “I don’t want to say any fighter is looking for an easy way out, but it did look a bit like a dive. Still, it’s my fault; it was an illegal move.”

The incident stings even more, considering this fight was rescheduled. Now, their second chance ends in confusion and finger-pointing. The question becomes, why did this illegal strike result in a no-contest, while others just cost a point? That’s what many fans, and even fellow fighters, are now asking after watching how Rodolfo Bellato reacted to Paul Craig’s upkick at UFC Atlanta.

Paul Craig’s upkick leaves fighters questioning Rodolfo Bellato for ‘flopping’ inside the Octagon at UFC Atlanta

At UFC 316, during the women’s bantamweight championship clash, Kayla Harrison was on the receiving end of a similar foul. During her bout with Julianna Peña, Harrison secured side control and dropped bombs from the top. Peña, desperate from the bottom, fired two illegal upkicks. The ref didn’t hesitate, he took a point and restarted the fight standing. Harrison won the round decisively, and the bout continued without theatrics.

Now contrast that with UFC Atlanta. Bellato dropped like he’d been shot. He stayed down, looked at the ref mid-fall, then went limp before suddenly “waking up” and grappling the official. The ref called it accidental, ruled the bout a no-contest, and the fight was over before it ever got going.

Justin Gaethje didn’t hold back as he wrote on X, “biggest flop in MMA history.”  He wasn’t alone as veteran Angela Hill also added, “Am I crazy for thinking he faked this? How do you look at the judge and complain on the way to being ko’ed?”

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Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman was just as confused as he wrote, “What the heck was that? Was that a legit flop in the UFC?” It’s rare to see so many fighters call out a peer’s reaction like this. The consensus? Bellato might’ve sold the shot a little too well.

To wrap things up, what was meant to be a return to form for Paul Craig turned into one of the most debated moments of UFC Atlanta. While the Scottish fighter owned up to his lapse in judgment, Bellato’s reaction remains under the microscope. Was this just an unfortunate ending, or did Rodolfo Bellato’s theatrics lead to the fight being declared a no-contest? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!