Michael Chiesa believes he could have fought his way free from a rear naked choke applied by Kevin Lee in the first round of their main event on Sunday but he’ll never get the chance to prove it.
The end of the fight came after Lee locked up the choke and referee Mario Yamasaki rushed into to stop the contest after he apparently believed Chiesa was put to sleep by the submission.
As soon as it was over, Chiesa bounced up from the mat and immediately protested the stoppage because he never tapped out much less got choked out to give the referee a reason to stop the fight.