Randa Markos reflects on DQ loss to Luana Pinheiro, claims the illegal upkick was ‘oversold’
Suffering her fourth consecutive loss at UFC Vegas 25 on Saturday night, strawweight mainstay, Randa Markos has claimed that her opponent, Luana Pinheiro’s “inability” to continue beyond an opening round illegal upkick was “oversold and suspect“.
Headlining the ESPN+ preliminary section of the Fight Night event, Markos entered the tie against the promotional debutante — attempting to snap a three-fight skid.
Suffering an inadvertent eye poke earlier in the opening round, referee, Mark Smith called a stoppage in the action to allow Markos to attempt to recover.
The extended finger appeared to open a cut on the right eyelid of Markos, who seemed hesitant to continue as blood continued to pour from the cut. Upon consultation with the Octagon-side physician, it was deemed that Markos would be able to continue.
After the restart in the action, Markos steamed forward, pressing Pinheiro, and following an eye-catching trip from the Brazilian, Markos found herself on her back.
Attempting to exit a stacked guard, Pinheiro was met by an illegal upkick from Markos, sending her to the canvas on her back.
Glaring up toward the ceiling from her back, Pinhiero had asked if she had lost the fight, before referee, Smith waved off the contest, and after some deliberation, the Dana White’s Contender Series product was declared the victor via disqualification.
A distraught Markos spoke with her corner as Pinheiro attempted to recover on the Octagon canvas before she was eventually carried from the Octagon and backstage in the arms of her coach, Andre Pederneires.
Releasing a statement on her official Instagram account reflecting on the bout, Markos claimed she had suffered three eye pokes in the contest, before questioning the inability of Pinheiro to continue.
“I’ve been in the fight game for a while now,” Markos wrote. “I’ve never intentionally thrown a (sic) illegal blow. It’s a fight, sh*t is bound to happen. I took three eye pokes (requiring stiches and loss of vision) and never thought for a second that I wasn’t going to continue. I had such a good training camp with @travislutter @cdpowertrain and @adams.justin1 in Texas and was ready to showcase my skills for the greatest fight promotion in the world. Yes my foot grazed her (Luana Pinheiro) but that my opponents inability to continue seemed a bit oversold and suspect. I let her know after the eye poke that I wasn’t leaving the cage without a win and she stole that from me.“
“I’m excited about whatever is next,” Markos continued. “I have a tone of heart in me that needs to be let out. Thank you to everyone that helped me with this camp. I love you all and I’ll be back soon. #ufc #quietstorm #mma #easywayout #littlebitch“
The defeat came as Markos’ fourth consecutively, following a pair of unanimous decision losses to Kanako Murata and Amanda Ribas, in between an armbar loss to Mackenzie Dern.
For Pinheiro, the Belo Horizonte native moved to 9-1 as a professional with the disqualification victory. The former Brave CF feature managed to score a November knockout win over Stephanie Frausto on the aforenoted, DWCS — earning her a deal with the UFC.
Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.
