Grad Wins Controversial Arm‑Triangle Over Buzukja at UFC Belgrade
A referee stopped the second‑round choke after what looks like a brief hand motion on Grad’s leg and the result now stands while an appeal remains possible.
Overview
- Bogdan Grad was awarded a second‑round arm‑triangle submission over Dennis Buzukja at UFC Fight Night 283 in Belgrade on Saturday after referee Jason Herzog stepped in at 4:33 of Round 2.
- Buzukja immediately protested in the cage and on camera, saying he never tapped and that his movement looked like a push to free his leg rather than a surrender.
- Broadcast replay circulated by UFC on Paramount+ shows an ambiguous motion that some viewers read as a tap and others read as a defensive shove, leaving the finish disputed.
- Grad told Michael Bisping after the fight that he did not feel a tap but that an appeal process exists, and no formal appeal or commission action has been confirmed in the coverage.
- The sequence happened with little room along the fence, a factor commentators noted that reduced visible lines for the choke, and the outcome will affect both fighters who entered the card with losing UFC records.