Osmanli Accuses Akylbek of Faking Injury After TUF 34 Finale Ends in DQ
The TUF 34 bantamweight final ended in a messy DQ, and now Osmanli says his opponent put on a show.
The TUF 34 men's bantamweight final was supposed to crown a new UFC prospect on Saturday night. Instead, it produced one of the messiest finishes in the show's history and a post-fight accusation that's still generating heat.
Mehemmedeli Osmanli was disqualified at 2:19 of the first round after landing an illegal knee on grounded opponent Ilimbek Akylbek during their bout at UFC Vegas 121. The referee stopped the action immediately, and Akylbek was awarded the win and the TUF 34 title.
But Osmanli isn't buying it. The Azerbaijani fighter took to Instagram Live after the loss to accuse Akylbek of exaggerating the damage. "He fake. First he take my leg. Then when referee stop, he put on show," Osmanli said.
Video replay shows Akylbek grabbing Osmanli's leg and continuing to fight for position even after the illegal strike. It was only after the referee intervened that Akylbek rolled onto his back and appeared dazed, remaining unresponsive as his team lifted him to his feet.
The controversy has spilled beyond the cage. Fighter Rafael Fiziev publicly appealed for unity between the Kyrgyz and Azerbaijani MMA communities after the result generated backlash on both sides.
The official result stands unless an athletic commission intervenes, which is unlikely. Akylbek is the TUF 34 champion. Osmanli will have to live with the fact that an illegal technique cost him a title, regardless of what he thinks happened next.
Look, the knee was illegal. That's not debatable. But I watched the replay a few times, and I get why Osmanli is frustrated. Akylbek was fighting through the strike, grabbing the leg, still working. Then the ref steps in and suddenly the guy can't stand up? It's not a great look.
That said, you don't get to throw an illegal knee and then complain about the consequences. Osmanli did this to himself. You train for years to make the TUF finale, and you lose it on a foul in the first round. That's a brutal way to learn the rules matter.
The Aljamain Sterling comparisons are going to follow Akylbek around for a while. Fair or not, the only way to shake that off is to go out and win fights convincingly. Osmanli needs to do the same. Both of these guys deserve a real fight to settle it.
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