MMA fighter Walter Pugliesi may be guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct by ditching a glove-touch agreement in favor of a swift KO victory.
One of the universal and long-standing unwritten rules of MMA is that if you signal that you will touch gloves with the opposing fighter, then you touch gloves—or at the very least you don’t KO the opponent as an alternative.
The tattoo-laden Pugliesi is being accused of showing no regard for this custom during The Golden Cage 6 event that took place on Saturday. The Italian held his hand up toward his opponent while in his corner, which in MMA gesturing signals that the two will touch gloves. Instead, immediately after the fight began, Pugliesi stormed and KOed his opponent within seconds. Peep it out below (h/t Twitter user @Grabaka_Hitman).
Here are some of the reactions from Twitter users to what transpired.
It should be noted that we cannot see the full view of the cage when Pugliesi made the gesture. Therefore, he may have been signaling to the official, and we do not know if the opponent raised his hand back towards him at any point.
With the victory, Pugliesi moves to 8-3. His opponent, Konstantin Linnik, is now 27-22 after the sudden loss.
What do you think? Was this foul play? Or is all fair in combat fighting?
