Melissa Gatto has shared her perspective on the illegal soccer kick she absorbed in her flyweight bout with Dione Barbosa at UFC Vegas 115 this past Saturday.
Early in the second round, Barbosa landed a soccer kick that connected while Gatto was in a downed position. Gatto fell to the mat and was apparently out but the fight was allowed to resume after she recovered. Barbosa was deducted a point for the foul and went on to win a majority decision on two of the three scorecards.
“I think that kick really changed the course of the fight for me,” Gatto said. “It made a difference, and it happened right at the beginning of the second round. What we were expecting was that as her performance dropped, mine would rise, which is what usually happens in my fights as I tend to perform better as the rounds go on.”
Gatto recalled the aftermath of the foul, saying, “After that, I only remember sitting down and talking to the referee,” and added, “I went out when I got hit by the kick.” She continued, “Maybe that decision shouldn’t have been mine. I went down unconscious, and I think it should have been the commission, the referee, or the doctors to make that call, not me. I’ll always choose to fight. A fighter fights, right?”
After Charles Johnson posted on social media claiming “she faked passing out for the point,” Gatto pushed back: “Why would I fake a knockout and then go back to fighting? That makes no sense.”
Gatto, a 29-year-old Brazilian with a 3-3 record under the UFC banner, maintains she was not fully herself after the foul but wanted to continue competing until the final horn.
