Many fighters are chomping at the bit to get into the UFC, unfortunately for Igor Severino, he took that too literally.
The 20 year-old prospect made history in his promotional debut at UFC Vegas 89 last weekend when he locked horns with fellow Brazilian Andre Lima. In the second round, Severino had Lima against the cage and decided to bite his opponent.
The referee stopped the contest and disqualified Severino for the illegal move. Lima left the Octagon with his undefeated record intact and a $50K ‘bite of the night’ bonus from Dana White after the UFC CEO saw that Lima had gotten Severino’s bite mark tattooed thereafter.
Tonight's BOTN 💰💰 #UFCVegas89 pic.twitter.com/Ngttbbryr8
— UFC (@ufc) March 24, 2024
It was a totally different story for Severino as the second-youngest fighter on the roster was ultimately cut from the promotion and even had his purse withheld by the Nevada Athletic Commission following the disqualification, a source told MMA Fighting.
Despite being bit, Andre Lima doesn’t hold any grudges towards his former foe Severino. In fact, Lima can’t help but feel empathetic for Severino, upon learning his first and quite possibly last UFC fight came against him.
“I’m so sorry to be honest for him,” Lima told TMZ. “I’m sad for him… because he came from the same [background]. He struggled a lot, like I did. He has a family. He has has a bright future. I was about to speak with him the octagon, but they didn’t allow. And after that, I didn’t see him at all and I feel so much for him, too. Because I know this same journey I had, he has, too. I feel bad for him.”
‘Mascote’ offers some words of encouragement to Severino as the 20 year-old attempts to navigate the rest of his MMA career with a huge asterisk to his name.
“Take it, day by day. I’m not taking advantage for the bad side what he did. I’m just enjoying my my victory and the momentum, what happened with me. I hope I can see him in the big stage again,” Lima said of Severino. “I hope, even if he wanna rematch one day, like we can we can go there and throw down, three rounds or whatever’s gonna happen. But I hope I can see him in the big stage, in the big shows, making money because he is young. There’s a lot to learn. That’s what I expect to see [from] him.”
It’ll be interesting to see what opportunities may line up for Igor Severino after a not great first impression in the UFC.
