Abdul Razak Alhassan took aim at opponent Cody Brundage on Sunday after their fight at UFC Denver was declared a no-contest due to illegal blows landed just seconds into the opening round.
The disappointing result came after Brundage rushed forward looking for an early takedown and Alhassan began unloading elbows and hammer fists in response. Referee Dan Miragliotta issued a warning almost immediately to Alhassan for landing blows to the back of the head in the rapid-fire sequence.
After Brundage adjusted and grabbed onto a leg, Alhassan landed several more elbow strikes with at least a couple more hitting the back of the head, which caused Miragliotta to pause the fight and issue another warning for the illegal blows. Unfortunately, Brundage was badly dazed from the strikes and after a few minutes trying to recover, he was still unable to continue and the fight was waved off.
Miragliotta ultimately declared the fight a no-contest due to “accidental” blows to the back of the head, but Alhassan isn’t buying that Brundage was actually that hurt.
“Sorry to all my fans, all my people,” Alhassan said in an Instagram Story on Sunday. “I wanted this bad. I wanted this win. I wanted this fight so bad. I have so much anger and so much energy in me right now that I wanted to use but I wasn’t able to use it. I guess today is a crazy day. [Donald] Trump got shot and I got robbed.
“I know definitely he could have continued. He just decided to be a p*ssy and didn’t want to fight anymore. It is what it is. I hope him a speedy recovery.”
Well known as a fast starter, Alhassan wasted no time bludgeoning Brundage with strikes as soon as the fight got started. However, with Brundage going for a takedown, his head was buried near the canvas, which left Alhassan little room to throw accurate strikes that weren’t illegal. While not every shot went to the back of the head, enough landed illegally that Miragliotta had no choice but to take action..
When Brundage was unable to continue, Miragliotta consulted with other referees and officials at cageside before ultimately deciding on a no-contest.
