it’s hard to say a fighter made a “mistake” when they’re actually in the fight, making split-second decisions, and dealing with their own limitations (e.g., being hurt or tired). i could only truly call it a mistake if common sense would have prevented it. here’s a short list of recent mistakes that come to mind:
1. it’s a bit counterintuitive given the result of the fight, but leon’s decision to go for a sub on colby in the last round was pretty ill-advised. he gave away around for no reason and spent the remainder of the fight defending sub attempts. leon’s fans may forgive him, but i’m sure leon’s coaches were pissed.
2. on that note, nate’s decision to point and taunt after rocking leon in the final moments of their fight was very ill-advised. it’s always dumb when nate does this, but given the stakes of the fight for leon and the timing of the incident, it really highlights just how bad nate’s decision was.
3. probably the biggest bonehead move was when ion cutelaba pretended to be badly rocked by ankalaev, which prompted the ref to stop the fight. spoiler alert: if you act like you’re about to get knocked unconscious in a fight, the ref will assume you’re about to be knocked unconscious, then step in to save you.
bonus: michel pereira tiring himself out doing capoeira and fancy gymnastics stunts, then losing the fight as a result. i appreciate he does it for entertainment, but that’s still kind of an embarrassing reason to lose.