One-time UFC fighter Khusein Askhabov saw his recent first-round TKO victory against Reinaldo Ekson overturned to a disqualification after the Danish MMA Federation (DMMAF) reviewed the lightweight bout, which served as the co-main event for Airtox Dominance FC 8.
The card took place Oct. 17 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ekson was attacked by Askhabov during the timeout over an eye poke. Chaos erupted, and the referee eventually awarded the Chechnya native the TKO victory. Ekson’s team protested on social media since then, and the DMMAF announced its final decision Monday.
“Having reviewed the incident, DMMAF has determined that Askhabov’s actions during the timeout constituted a serious violation of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and warranted disqualification, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the initial stoppage,” a statement read.
Askhabov and his cornermen were hit with a 12-month suspension “from all DMMAF-sanctioned events and activities, including participation as a fighter, coach, cornerman, or in any other capacity, in accordance with the federation’s Code of Conduct,” the commission announced.
“DMMAF strongly condemns the conduct displayed during the incident,” the statement read. “Attempts to attack an opponent during a timeout, disregard for the referee’s instructions, and unauthorised interference from corner teams are unacceptable and have no place in professional MMA.”
Ekson celebrated the decision on Monday.
“The federation’s decision was fair,” Ekson told MMA Fighting. “At no point did I want to tarnish my opponent’s reputation or harm him, but justice prevailed. I was wronged by what happened, and thank God the federation made a fair decision.”
Ekson also criticized his opponent for illegal shots to the back of his head, which he said almost caused the premature end of the fight.
“The blow to the back of the head was the hardest one,” Ekson said. “It affected me a lot and sent a shock through my entire cervical spine all the way down to my leg. I stayed there for four minutes and thought I might not come back, but my corner encouraged me. I ended up returning while still feeling the loss of strength caused by the blow to the back of my head.”
Askhabov, who fought only once in the UFC and was let go after reportedly being arrested for alleged kidnap, torture, extortion in Thailand in 2023, voiced his discontent on DMMAF’s social media post.
“I came there to fight. That’s all I wanted,” Askhabov wrote. “Throughout the fight, my opponent repeatedly insulted me and tried to provoke me. In my eyes, was already mentally broken and looking for every possible excuse to escape the fight. I understand that emotions were high and mistakes were made. It is even not a no contest? But how on earth does he get declared the winner? How he beat me? I came to fight, not to watch someone walk away and get rewarded with a win.
“The fans saw this! You can punish me for actions, but that doesn’t mean my opponent deserves a victory he didn’t earn inside the cage. Where is the fairness in that? This decision makes absolutely no sense to me. I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I never had any intention of hurting my opponent or anyone from his team.”
Ekson said, however, that it was Askhabov who started with the antics while he was being evaluated by the doctor.
“The fight restarted [after the illegal strike to the back of the head] and he managed to take me down and started throwing strikes,” Ekson said. “He put his hand on my eye and used his thumb to scratch it, and that scratch left me completely dazed, with blurred vision. My eye became very irritated, and I spent seven days using antibiotics that the event doctor himself recommended.
“He started taunting me while I was being examined by the doctor, calling me to fight. I told him ‘f*ck you.’ He got angry and came at me, along with his team. I only left the cage because the doctor had already told me several times that he had been disqualified. A security guard grabbed my arm and said, ‘Let’s go.’ The security guard took me out of the cage. I wasn’t the one who wanted to stop the fight, and the doctor had already confirmed his disqualification.”
Watch the full fight below.