Fans rage over ‘blatant’ cheating in UFC Vegas 97 fight as winner branded a ‘liar’ following glove holding controversy

UFC strawweight Jaqueline Amorim has been branded a ‘liar’ after denying that she cheated in her win last night.

The Brazilian moved to 9-1 as a professional when she defeated Vanessa Demopoulos at the UFC’s Apex Facility in Las Vegas, landing an armbar finish in the first. But her opponent has complained that she was having her glove held during the sequence that led to the hold being locked in.

And fans have taken to social media to slam Amorim’s technique, claiming she was ‘caught ik 4k’ during replays. She has defended herself following the result, which has irked viewers further as they defended Demopoulos.

Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFCJaqueline Amorim lands controversial first round submission over Vanessa DemopoulosAfter losing her UFC debut last year, Jaqueline Amorim has been on an impressive run of results in the sport’s top promotion. She won her two heading into last night, landing two finishes against Montserrat Conejo Ruiz and Cory McKenna.

She faced a stern test in Demopoulos, who herself had landed two victories in her previous outings. But she got the better of the early exchanges and had her opponent right where she wanted as they ended up on the ground just minutes into the bout.

But right as she was getting her rival into position for an armbar, it appeared that she put her fingers into Demopoulos’ glove. This is an illegal technique, and was immediately called by the fighter, to no response by referee Jacob Montalvo.

Once she had got into position, Demopoulos was forced to tap to the deep armbar. But she instantly complained of an unfair move being used, to no avail.

Jaqueline Amorim defends herself following cheating allegationsAfter the fight, Amorim was quizzed by the media in a press conference about what had happened. She claimed to have seen a brief replay while in the cage, and insists that she was within the rules in her manoeuvres.

“I just had a potential look at the big screen,” she explained. “And from the angle that I looked at it didn’t look like I was holding, I was over the gloves together, but not inside. Maybe I will look later, my corner say they looked and it wasn’t.

“I heard the commission was taking a look and they said it was fine and nothing was holding. I have a clear conscience, I did the right thing… The referee was right there he said nothing, if I was holding he would have touched my hands to open them. But no, he said I was not holding and I did that.”

Fans outraged at Jaqueline Amorim’s win over Vanessa DemopoulosHowever, her explanation just made things worse with fans, who shared screenshots and clips that appeared to show the severity of the foul. Social media was full of messages claiming she had cheated, with some branding her a liar for her defence of the situation.

“I can’t stand Vanessa but this was blatant,” one viewer wrote, while another added “She was literally caught in 4k on ESPN.” Another sarcastically asked “She cheated and she lies? I’m shocked.”

One fan, however, blamed the officiating and the lack of punishment for breaking the rules in MMA. “The problem with basically every rule in MMA is that the benefit of committing the foul almost always outweighs the punishment (if there is any),” he wrote.

“Jacob Montalvo is honestly one of the worst refs in the game, he makes Chris Tognoni look like a saint.”

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