Renan Ferreira-Fabricio Werdum Bout at PFL 3 Overturned to No Contest

The PFL fight between Fabricio Werdum and Renan Ferreira from last Thursday night has been overturned to a no contest by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.

- @marc_raimondi pic.twitter.com/JbDbYroasD

— MMAPurists (@MMAPurists) May 10, 2021

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has overturned Renan Ferreira’s first-round knockout victory over Fabricio Werdum at Professional Fighters League’s third regular season event of 2021 to a no contest.

ESPN was first to report the news. After reversing into top position, Ferreira found himself ensnared in a triangle choke. At one point, Werdum appeared to elicit a quick tapout from his opponent and then briefly relaxed the hold. When referee Keith Peterson failed to see the tap, Ferreira capitalized and unloaded with hammerfists to force the stoppage 2:32 into Round 1.

According to the ESPN report, NJSACB commissioner Larry Hazzard Sr. elected to overturn the initial decision after consulting several experts and reviewing the fight from multiple angles. One of those sources was Peterson, who reportedly told Hazzard "he would have likely had stopped the contest" if he had seen Ferreira's tapping motion in real time.

OFFICIAL: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has overturned the result of Werdum vs Ferreira to a No Decision. Per the PFL rules, both fighters receive 1 point in the heavyweight standings. pic.twitter.com/9kwudsPYmP

— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 10, 2021

PFL confirmed the ruling and announced that both Werdum and Ferreira will receive one point apiece in the promotion’s regular season heavyweight standings. Meanwhile, Werdum’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, took to social media to express his satisfaction with the NJSACB’s ruling.

“I want to thank the New Jersey Athletic Commission, Mr. Nick Lembo who worked all weekend on over turning Fabricio Werdum’s decision to a no contest from his last week at PFL,” Abdelaziz wrote. I also want to thank PFL for quickly providing all of the necessary evidence.”

The promotion has not yet announced the next opponent for either Ferreira or Werdum.