Claudia Gadelha

At the end of a tough 3-round war on the preliminary card of UFC on FOX 13, Claudia Gadelha punched Joanna Jedrzejczyk clearly after the final bell sounded. Immediately after the punch to Jedrzejczyk, Gadelha extended her hand and apologized for the unintentional infraction.

Apparently, it was that quick apology that likely saved Gadelha from getting a suspension from the Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission. If this had been in Las Vegas a suspension might have been more likely.

The Executive Director of the Arizona Commission Matthew Valenzuela opened up to MMAJunkie about the situation, and explained exactly why the commission would not be seeking disciplinary action against Gadelha.

(Jedrzejczyk) wasn’t hurt by anything (Gadelha) did. She won the fight. It was still wrong, but at the same time, there was nothing stated to myself that came back from the UFC.

Did the late punch appear to be unintentional? By all accounts it did and the quick apology seemed to substantiate that. If the UFC had spoken with the commission about it and pressed the issue there would have been disciplinary action for sure.

This is a far cry from notoriously malicious Rousimar Palhares who applies painful submissions and holds on to them for too long. His latest with Jon Fitch was another example of controversy and the question was there in terms of the length of the hold after the referee waved the fight off. Using that as a measuring stick it is obvious why Gadelha did not receive a suspension. It was clearly not mean spirited like Palhares tends to be.

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