Opinion: Stephens’ knee was illegal, but does it matter?

Jeremy Stephens landed an illegal knee on Josh Emmett. Looking at the replays, you can see on the back swing of the illegal knee that Stephens’ leg hits Emmett in the head while Emmett is grounded.

If the rules were followed perfectly, and referee Dan Miragliotta saw everything in slow-motion, he would have stopped the fight and ruled it a DQ, a no contest or let the fight continue after a point deduction (but I doubt Emmett would have been able to continue).

This is where my argument starts, and where things become subjective, so feel free to argue it. Did the illegal strike that Jeremy Stephens landed affect who you thought was the better fighter?

My argument is no. The knee did not appear to land significantly, and I would argue that Stephens did not gain any advantage by landing the knee. If the knee did not land at all, I am very convinced that the same result would have occurred.

When Jon Jones used 12-6 elbows in a fight against Matt Hamill, he technically broke the rules. I, and many others, would argue that the illegal elbows had no impact on who we thought the better fighter was that night. Jones was DQ’d, and was handed his first (and only) professional MMA loss. Jones still proved that he was the better fighter that night, despite the infringement.

On the flip side, Anderson Silva grabbed Chael Sonnen’s shorts to prevent a takedown in the 2nd round of their rematch. Technically, that’s illegal, and the fight should have been stopped. Soon after, Silva finished Sonnen and put their rivalry to rest. The shorts grab didn’t taint Silva’s win, but it probably had a bigger impact on the match than Stephens barely landed knee strike to Emmett. Still, Silva proved to fans that he was the better fighter.

So what am I arguing? I’m not saying that rules shouldn’t be enforced. I’m saying that as a smart MMA watcher, you should be able to see that Jeremy Stephens was the better fighter. Yes, Stephens didn’t follow the rules, but his rule breaking didn’t have a significant impact on the result. Stephens would be a bigger favorite in a rematch because of his performance, despite technically losing if he was DQ’d.

In MMA, wins and losses don’t really mean a whole lot. A loss that’s deemed “impressive” by the UFC and the fans can bump someone higher in the rankings than an unimpressive or controversially judged win.

Outside of a championship fight, the result of the fight doesn’t matter as much as other professional sports. What matters is, did the fighter convince the UFC and the fans that they are better than their opponent, and the other fighters in their division?

Jeremy Stephens proved Saturday night that he can compete as a Top 5 Featherweight. Whether or not the bout gets overturned due to the illegal strike won’t change that.