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NJ commission rejects Dvalishvili's appeal of controversial loss to Simon

Noah K. Murray / USA TODAY Sports

Merab Dvalishvili remains on a two-fight skid.

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has rejected the bantamweight's appeal of the controversial defeat he suffered at Ricky Simon's hands earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City.

The matchup's result could have been overturned had the commission ruled that referee Liam Kerrigan had erred in waving the fight off once the final horn had sounded, but his actions at the bout's conclusion were deemed kosher.

"In summary, I do not find that Mr. Kerrigan committed a self-evident and palpable error; or even any error which comes close to that standard. Solely because a decision is disputed does not make such facially incorrect," commissioner Larry Hazzard wrote in a letter the NJSACB released Friday.

Controversy arose over the final minute of a fight Dvalishvili was winning on the judges' scorecards. Simon secured a guillotine choke as the Serra-Longo man went for a takedown, the sequence ending with Dvalishvili mounted and moving his legs incessantly to prove he hadn't succumbed to the hold. While he appeared to have gutted his way to the fight's end, it looked as though Dvalishvili had briefly lost consciousness at the sound of the final horn, prompting Kerrigan to rule the bout a TKO win by technical submission for Simon as opposed to leaving it to the judges.

Hazzard was cageside at the time, and after consulting with Kerrigan, NJSACB counsel Nick Lembo, and cageside referee Marc Goddard, ultimately agreed with Kerrigan's ruling - despite Lembo's initial motion to go to the scorecards.

The verdict keeps Dvalishvili winless in two walks to the Octagon. He'd hoped to secure a rematch with Simon in addition to seeing the loss overturned.

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