Flyweight Igor Severino was disqualified from his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut on Saturday after biting opponent Andre Lima during their Fight Night bout in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the second round of the fight between the two Brazilians, Lima shouted and signaled the referee to stop the fight.
The 25-year-old raised his left arm to show the bite and officials reviewed the footage before deciding to disqualify Severino.
UFC president Dana White later told combat sports website keviniole.com that Severino would be removed from the UFC.
“We were fighting well, and at one point he decided to bite me for some reason,” Lima told reporters through an interpreter after the fight.
“I went downstairs, and as I stood up I screamed because I felt a sharp pain. At first I thought it was the fence. I thought there was no way he could have bitten me, especially with the way the fight went.
Later on Saturday, Lima posted a photo of herself on Instagram with a new bite mark tattoo, which was re-posted by White, along with the promise of a $50,000 bonus.