Cutelaba was then scheduled to fight Ovince Saint Preux on April 25, but the whole event got cancelled. I have reviewed the materials in this matter and the regulation applicable to your request. Therefore, absent evidence of a regulatory violation, the technical knockout (TKO) decision resulting from referee Kevin MacDonald’s stoppage of the February 29, 2020, bout between Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev must stand. In response to your request for review, Regulation 18 VAC 120-40-411.14 states, in relevant part: C. The department shall not change a decision rendered at the end of any contest unless: 3. There is no evidence to substantiate a claim that Referee MacDonald made his in-the-moment decisions based on any factor other than his best judgment to avoid injury to the participants. Ion Cutelaba: Game plan was to play possum, counterattack when referee stopped fight ... to relay his words after his TKO loss to Magomed Ankalaev. Immediately stop any contest when, in his judgment, one of the boxers or martial artists is outclassed by the other, injured, or otherwise unable to safely continue to participate in the contest; 10. Magomed Ankalaev’s technical knockout victory over Ion Cutelaba will stand as it is, the Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation decided. ... After a sequence of brain-rattling kicks and punches from Ankalaev, referee Kevin MacDonald waived off the fight. Referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the light heavyweight contest just 38 seconds after Ankalaev left Cutelaba wobbled during a frenetic striking battle. Controversy reigned in Virginia, USA, after a referee stopped an explosive light heavyweight matchup between Russia's Magomed Ankalaev and Moldova's Ion Cutelaba… The UFC immediately booked a rematch between Cutelaba and Ankalaev for April 18 in Brooklyn, but the match-up eventually fell when the coronavirus pandemic stopped Ankalaev from entering the United States for UFC 249. Cutelaba protested it, later claiming that he was faking it. Amid heavy controversy, Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev will run things back. In the decision, DPOR spokesperson Mary Broz-Vaughan informed Cutelaba’s team that the commission found “no evidence to substantiate a claim that Referee MacDonald made his in-the-moment decisions based on any factor other than his best judgment to avoid injury to the participants.”, “I find the account given by the referee, who has the authority and responsibility to stop a contest when he believes a participant is injured, to be credible,” Broz-Vaughan wrote. Section 18 VAC 120-40-190 enumerates the duties each assigned referee must perform, including the obligation to: 4. Ahead of Saturday’s rematch at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Cutelaba (15-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) was removed from the fight following a positive COVID-19 test. Cutelaba (15-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and Ankalaev (13-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will rematch less than two months after their UFC on ESPN+ 27 fight, when the two square off April 18 at UFC 249 in Brooklyn.
