Local MMA fighter Jared Papazian suffered a tough defeat Saturday in the Octagon at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Making his debut at flyweight, Papazian dropped a unanimous decision to Tim Elliott (by scores of 30-25, 30-25, 30-26) in the opening bout of of “The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale”. The El Camino Real High grad had one point deducted in the first round after an illegal knee caught Elliott in the face while his opponent was seated. Elliott shook it off and cut Papazian with some elbows in the first round before knocking him down in the second.
Elliott continued to punish Papazian with some ground and pound in the third round to record the shutout. The two were rumored to have a skirmish after the weigh-ins Friday and had to be separated after the fight. However, this post-fight photo by Darin Harvey, Papazian’s manager, spoke volumes:
Reason I love this amazing sport @ufc @jackhammer135 @telliott125@danawhite#FIGHTOFTHENIGHT twitter.com/darinharvey/st…
— Darin Harvey (@darinharvey) December 16, 2012
Papazian’s aggressive style paid off in one significant way: He and Elliott were each awarded $40,000 bonuses for Fight of the Night.
After the fight, Papazian tweeted:
Thank you everyone that came out to support me for my fight I love every single one of u guys .came up short. But I’ll be back.
— jared papazian (@jackhammer135) December 16, 2012
I would rather lose with an exciting fight, then win with a boring fight
— jared papazian (@jackhammer135) December 16, 2012
The loss drops Papazian to 14-9 in his MMA career but 0-3 in the UFC, which is usually doom for someone’s career. The 125-pounder certainly knew what was at stake going into the fight and seemed to know his fate Monday:
I sit here and reflect on my life while I having breakfast. It may look like I need to go job hunting 🙂 but I’ll be back
— jared papazian (@jackhammer135) December 17, 2012
All I want for Christmas is to still have a job
— jared papazian (@jackhammer135) December 17, 2012
Some of Papazian’s fans took to Twitter to campaign on his behalf, even pointing out to UFC President Dana White and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby that despite the three losses, two were worthy of Fight of the Night bonuses.
RT @danawhite @seanshelby – @jackhammer135 3 fights in the @ufc – 3 Losses PLUS 2 FOTN Bonuses= JACKHAMMER BELONGS IN THE UFC! Let’s go DANA
— FIGHT ME Clothing (@FIGHTMECLOTHING) December 17, 2012
@jackhammer135 As some of your biggest fans, we demand that @ufc not let you go! They can’t do it! #teampapazian cc: @danawhite
— ITFLEWINTHEAIR (@itflewintheair) December 17, 2012