Igor Severino took a page out of Mike Tyson’s caustic handbook, but his UFC career ended almost as quickly as it began.
Severino, who was making his Octagon debut at Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas, was disqualified for biting his opponent, Andre Lima, and was removed from the promotion shortly after, according to multiple reports.
Severino, 20, was in the midst of an intense match against fellow Brazilian Lima when the smackdown occurred.
Midway through the second round, with the fighters leaning against the cage, Lima suddenly stepped back and raised his arm for referee Chris Tognoni.
Coach Tognoni immediately stopped the game and brought in a doctor from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to examine Lima’s arm, which confirmed it was a bite mark.
Tognoni then immediately abandoned the match, which officially ended at 2:52.
It was the first loss of Severino’s career (8-1), and the future of his mixed martial arts career is now uncertain.
Lima, who was also making his UFC debut, improved to 8-0.
Immediately after the game, Dana White told reporter Kevin Ior that Severino would be released.
“Those were two up-and-coming undefeated fighters,” White told Ior via text message. “If you get frustrated and want to get out of the match, there are many ways to do it, but the worst thing you can do is bite your opponent. Now, you get cut and you lose the biggest opportunity of your life. We’re going to have big problems.”
On June 28, 1997, Tyson and Evander Holyfield faced off in a widely anticipated boxing rematch after Holyfield defeated Tyson in 1996 to win the WBA title.
The fight is remembered as one of the wildest moments in boxing history, with Tyson biting off part of Holyfield’s ear.
In an episode ofCheck in to Big U’s podcast” In 2022, Tyson spoke about his foray into the cannabis industry selling ear-shaped cannabis gummies in honor of the infamous Holyfield scandal.
“I was fined 3 million yen for that, but I could have made 30 million after that happened,” Tyson said. “From that bite. Do you know how important that was to people!”
Severino is unlikely to benefit that much.
