KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Piera Rodriguez claims she didn’t tap out against Gillian Robertson to end their UFC on ESPN 44 bout.
In what should’ve been a glorious moment for Robertson (12-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC), who locked up an armbar in the second round of her strawweight debut to add to her record for most submission wins by any female in UFC history, Rodriguez (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) took some shine away by claiming she never tapped.
The replay didn’t show the most aggressive of taps from Rodriguez in the final sequence, but it looked as though she did, albeit slightly before the referee intervened in the prelim matchup at T-Mobile Center.
Check out the replay below (via Twitter):
New weight class, same savage 😈@Savage_UFC gets the armbar in her strawweight debut! #UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/UgRMUW2reo
— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2023
Robertson wasn’t exactly furious over what happened, because she got her arm raised and said she was only following the direction of the referee.
“She was saying she didn’t tap, but honestly, I have no idea if she did or not,” Robertson said in her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “Once the ref pulled me off, that’s all I felt.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
