That's because while Oliveira may have finished the fight with a rear naked choke, he did so moments after hitting a kneeling Lentz with what appeared to be a blatantly illegal knee to the head. It was that knee that changed the complexion of the fight, said Lentz's coach, Greg Nelson, and that's why he expects Oliveira's win to be change to a no contest by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
"It's the illegal knee that basically knocked Nik Lentz out so he could get his back and hook him," Nelson told MMA Fighting on Monday evening. "I mean, he was clearly down. That knee broke Nik Lentz's eye socket, so it was not a soft knee. He took his time, held the back of the head, wound up the knee and then let it go. ...It was a super hard knee that ended up doing a lot of damage."
But the referee for the fight -- Ohio's Chip Snider -- didn't intervene after the illegal blow, which shocked not only Nelson, but also observers at ringside, he said.
"All the other referees were jumping up, guys from the commission were jumping up, I was jumping up. A lot of people were wondering what was going on, why the fight wasn't being stopped, because it was so blatant. Then the crowd, when they saw the replay, it was doubly obvious to them."
At the moment, the result of the bout still stands as a win for Oliveira, but PSAC executive director Greg Sirb said the commission is currently in the process of reviewing the bout, and expects to have a ruling to announce on Wednesday.
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