Anthony Smith has seen enough fights to know what a real knockout looks like, and according to him, that’s not what happened to Rodolfo Bellato at UFC Atlanta.
The controversy started in the final moments of the featured prelim when Bellato took an illegal upkick from Paul Craig just before the end of Round 1. The kick clearly landed, and Bellato fell backward, seemingly protesting to the referee about the foul. Then, in a split-second turn, Bellato collapsed and appeared unconscious only to suddenly wake up and begin grappling with the referee.
Referee Kevin McDonald called a halt to the action and declared the bout a no-contest, but Smith wasn’t convinced by the sequence.
“It was a great fight up until the way that it ended all weird,” Smith said during the UFC Atlanta post-fight show. “Paul Craig was really forcing the takedowns. He ends up shooting, pulls guard, the round ends, and he throws an upkick while Bellato has a knee down. So that’s an illegal strike. I’m going to be hard here. I’m going to be hard on Bellato.”
“As the upkick happens, he looks to the referee to see if he caught it. You see his eyes go straight to the referee to protest, then realizes maybe I can get a free win. He lays there, pretends he’s unconscious, jolts back awake allegedly. That’s a man who is awake. He pretends to grapple the referee as if he’s unconscious, trying to get a cheap win. I’ve been doing this a long time. I know what it looks like when somebody’s faking it.”
Smith rewatched the replay live on the broadcast and doubled down on his take. While he admitted the kick was illegal, he didn’t believe Bellato was truly hurt.
“He’s going to look to the referee ‘Oh my God, that’s illegal! Oh, I better pretend I’m unconscious,’” Smith said, narrating the moment. “The jolt back awake. This is the worst performance I’ve ever seen. The referee knows this is not really happening. I feel really bad for Paul Craig.”
“We’re laughing about it and joking because it is so silly what happened here with Rodolfo Bellato and Paul Craig. But Paul Craig, although he did break the rules, it wasn’t intentional. That’s a fight that could’ve continued. I’m not going to pretend I’m in Bellato’s head or say how bad it hurt. But he was not unconscious or hurt as badly as he pretended. That’s for sure.”
Smith’s frustration comes from experience. He famously stayed in a fight after taking an illegal knee from Jon Jones in their 2019 title bout. Smith could’ve taken the DQ win, but chose to continue. Six years later, he watched a fighter do the opposite in real time.
The fight between Craig and Rodolfo Bellato was already a delayed matchup. Their first meeting at UFC Vegas 106 was canceled after Bellato was pulled just hours before the bout due to a herpes diagnosis. The UFC rebooked the fight for UFC Atlanta, where it ended in one of the strangest no-contests in recent memory.
After the fight, social media lit up with criticism. Fans and fighters alike believed Bellato was trying to draw a DQ win, and even Justin Gaethje shared his doubts. UFC matchmakers didn’t comment, but the damage to Bellato’s reputation was already circulating online.
Amid the accusations, Rodolfo Bellato finally addressed the situation in an Instagram post.
“God knows about all things! To everyone cheering for me, I’m in good health and will be back soon. Thank you so much!” Bellato wrote.
“And I saw some things on the internet, saying I was an actor there and stuff… the moment I was on the ground, I didn’t expect to get kicked in the face (illegally)… it was a strong kick. When I looked at the judge to complain, my whole body began to tingle and my vision disappeared… after that I don’t remember anything.
“Anyone who’s known me the longest knows I would NEVER do this. I’ve never run from war. I fought twice in less than 30 days, two trips in a row. Why would I fake something after all I’ve been through and on top of that, I was winning the first round?
“I thank all the real ones for the positive messages. God is in charge.”
Despite the no-contest ruling, Rodolfo Bellato remains one of the biggest stories coming out of UFC Atlanta. His record now stands at 1-1 with 1 no-contest under the UFC banner. Whether the UFC brass agrees with Smith or sides with Bellato, the backlash from this bizarre moment isn’t going away anytime soon.
