Nicolae Negumereanu picked up his first win in the UFC on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 29, but it wasn’t without a help in hand from Mike Beltran.
During the prelims, Negumereanu faced fellow UFC rookie Aleksa Camur in a light heavyweight contest and took home the split decision at the end of three rounds.
Nicolae Negumereanu lost his UFC debut to Saparbek Safarov in March 2019 via a unanimous decision.
His opponent Aleksa Camur is a Dana White’s Contender Series alum currently on a two-fight losing skid.
He started with a decision win in the UFC against Justin Ledet after beating Fabio Cherant via TKO in Season three of DWCS. He then lost to William Knight at UFC 253 and Nicole Negumereanu tonight.
Throughout the duration of the fight, Nicolae Negumereanu was warned by referee Mike Beltran for grabbing the fence multiple times, yet a point was never deducted for the foul.
Viewers caught on to it, and as is the case with most controversial incidents, made their opinions heard on social media.
Internet reacts to Mike Beltran’s refereeing for Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Aleksa Camur at UFC Vegas 29
Robert Sargent pointed out that there were five separate warnings for Nicolae Negumereanu, which is perhaps one too many to get away with without losing a point.
Nicolae Negumereanu has had five stern warnings for grabbing the cage and has not been docked a point. Five warnings. #UFCVegas29
— Robert Sargent (@MMARising) June 19, 2021
Some fans thought Negumereanu was simply lucky to still walk away with the win.
Aleksa Camur and Nicolae Negumereanu go the distance with both showing off they have iron chins. Nicolae very lucky not to get a point deduction for constant fence grabbing. In the end the judges give the split decision to Negumereanu #UFCVegas29 pic.twitter.com/wcqpLpdFL7
— Amar Singh (The Great Towel-E) (@SkyBlue_Am) June 19, 2021
Here’s another.
Nicolae Negumereanu lucky to not have lost a point. BUT being out for three years and coming back to win, you could see the determination. And the power of course‼️ #UFCVegas29
— Chin Check (@ChinCheckPod) June 19, 2021
Others questioned the UFC’s point-deduction policy by tagging the president Dana White.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto took a shot at Mike Beltran, saying that the veteran referee would rather fight a competitor than take a point from him.
At this point, I think Mike Beltran would get into a fist fight with a fighter who doesn’t heed his warnings before he’d take a point from him.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 19, 2021
UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley joked about how little attention Nicolae Negumereanu was paying to Mike Beltran’s warnings, which were clearly falling on deaf ears.
One Twitter user sent out word to all the fighters who follow their account, pointing out that they can get away with at least ten fence grabs before a point is deducted if Mike Beltran is refereeing one of their fights.
Note to all fighters that follow me: If Mike Beltran is your ref, you can get away with at least 10 fence grabs before you get a hard warning.
— Dan (@BestFightPicks) June 19, 2021
Another user straight-up put the responsibility of Aleksa Camur’s loss on Mike Beltran’s refereeing.
Mike Beltran not taking a point for multiple fence grabs just put a loss on Camur’s record. #UFCVegas29
— Matthew Wells (@MrMWells) June 19, 2021
There were several tweets making fun of the fact that Mike Beltran landed significant strikes, referring to his slaps of warning, with one of them even comparing it to Ben Askren’s record.
Mike Beltran has officially landed more significant strikes in the Octagon than Ben Askren. #UFC
— MMA Roasted (@MMARoasted) June 19, 2021
Sean O’Malley was at it once again, this time suggesting a reality show idea starring Mike Beltran where he disciplines ‘sh*t bird TikTok teens’.
Some fans called for Mike Beltran to be relieved of his refereeing duties as well, given the slip-up.
Mike Beltran needs to be relieved of his duties he was a great ref but after 8+ warnings you have to take not only one point but multiple points. Getting fucking ridiculous….. @danawhite #UFCVegas29
— Ben (@phillyftw23) June 19, 2021
Several of the tweets were funny and were humorous takes on how Mike Beltran slapped away Nicolae Negumereanu’s hand in the end for grabbing the fence, but still did not deduct points.
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