UFC 326 had its share of bizarre moments, but one of the strangest situations on the card didn’t include a knockout or a controversial decision. It came from a fight that arguably should not have continued at all. Cody Garbrandt got his hand raised in the end, but the real debate began when fans reflected on what happened in the middle of the fight.

During the third round, Garbrandt was hit with several low blows, one of which left him bent over and visibly vomiting into a bucket inside the Octagon. The fight paused, the doctor checked him, and somehow the action resumed. The result stayed official, although according to the Unified Rules of MMA, that moment alone could have been enough to stop the fight completely.

The rulebook suggests Cody Garbrandt’s fight should have been stopped at UFC 326

The rulebook is actually rather clear on cases like this. According to the Unified Rules of MMA, if a fighter visibly loses control of bodily functions during a round, including vomiting, the referee must stop the fight and consider it a TKO due to medical stoppage.

It’s not a judgment call about toughness. It’s written as a safety rule.

That’s why UFC 326 has left fans confused. When the second low blow struck in round three, Cody Garbrandt fell to the ground and vomited while the referee called time.

A bucket was brought in; the doctor examined him, and after a short break, the fight resumed. No stoppage, no TKO, just a point deduction for Xiao Long and back to action. There are a few reasons why the fight may not have been stopped, even with the rule in place.

One possibility is that there was an error at the moment. Referees must make quick decisions, and the exact wording of the rulebook is not always followed perfectly in real time, especially during a chaotic sequence with multiple fouls.

Another explanation is timing. The regulation states that the loss of bodily control must occur within the course of a round, and since the fight was paused for a timeout after the foul, it could be argued that the vomiting happened outside active fighting time. That gray area may have been enough for the referee to allow the fight to continue.

It’s also possible that officials didn’t see it as a clear case of vomiting affecting the fight itself. If the referee or doctor thought Cody Garbrandt could safely continue, they might have handled it as part of the foul sequence rather than as a medical stoppage.

‘No Love’ eventually won the fight by decision after two points were taken off Xiao Long, stopping his losing skid in one of his oddest victories. However, based on the rulebook, this is the kind of situation that is rarely disregarded, which is why fans are now questioning whether the fight should have been called off long before the final bell.

But seeing how UFC 326 has been so far, there would’ve been no guarantee that the fight would’ve stopped even after the final bell rang.

Nyamjargal Tumendemberel vs. Cody Durden left a terrible aftertaste

Even before the confusion in the Garbrandt fight, UFC 326 had already started to feel a little off. Earlier on the card, Nyamjargal Tumendemberel vs. Cody Durden ended with the right winner on paper, but the way it ended didn’t sit well with the audience.

People weren’t worried by the scores. It was what happened after the fight had already ended, and the reaction within the arena made it clear right away. The fight itself was a grind, with frequent scrambles and clinch work. Durden really needed the win, but ‘The Art of Knockout’ looked stronger in the majority of the exchanges and maintained control often enough for the judges to notice.

Once the fight reached the distance, the scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 felt reasonable, bringing Tumendemberel’s record to 10-1. The problem came after the final bell. The Mongolian fighter threw extra shots after the round ended, with strikes landing on the back of Cody Durden’s head before the referee intervened.

As expected, the boos began immediately, and the situation felt chaotic despite the evident outcome. Looking back, that set the tone for the night, because when the Garbrandt situation happened later, fans were already feeling like UFC 326 was getting harder to make sense of.