Piera Rodriguez had a strong start to her UFC Vegas 92 fight with Ariane Carnelossi, but she’ll go home with a disqualification loss due to a pair of intentional headbutts.
After blasting Carnelossi with strikes on the feet that sent her falling to the canvas, Rodriguez followed up with some ground-and-pound before jumping into her opponent’s guard. Before she could throw another strike, Rodriguez led with her head as she came crashing down into Carnelossi, which earned her a warning from referee Mark Smith.
A second later, Rodriguez brought her head crashing down into Carnelossi again, this time more violently than the first, and Smith immediately paused the action to admonish her for the foul. Carnelossi remained down on the canvas for several moments as medical personnel came into the octagon to check on her.
Replays clearly showed the headbutt from Rodriguez, and Smith ultimately waved off the fight once Carnelossi was deemed unable to continue. Carnelossi walked out the octagon before the final decision was even announced.
Doesn’t really seem like incidental contact. pic.twitter.com/9uwDk2LgeM
— Luke Thomas ️♀️ (@lthomasnews) May 18, 2024
Ultimately, Smith opted to disqualify Rodriguez for the intentional fouls, with the official end time coming at 3:16 in the second round. Carnelossi gets the win but her night certainly didn’t end the way she wanted.
“It was going well until she had a blatant foul,” UFC color commentator Paul Felder said of the result. “You can’t do that. You can’t headbutt them. You can use control with your forehead, you can bump that chin and you probably get away with it. You can’t go up and then down.”
The disqualification loss serves as Rodriguez’s second in a row overall after she fell to Gillian Robertson in April 2023. As for Carnelossi, the win puts her back on track following a loss to Loopy Godinez back in May 2022.
