CSAC Overturns Result of Billy Evangelista vs. Mike Aina, Declares "No Decision"

In a story that's flown under the radar, Greg Savage over at Sherdog reports on a California State Athletic Commission appeals hearing concerning the main event of the May 15th, 2009 Strikeforce Challengers card featuring lightweights Billy Evangelista and Mike Aina.  As some of you may remember, after an uneventful first round, Evangelista landed a knee strike on Aina while the Hawaiian was pressed up against the cage and still had his knee down on the mat.  Referee Herb Dean and most of those watching live believed that the knee landed on Aina's head and was thus an illegal blow, so when Aina complained of severe jaw pain and stated that he could no longer continue, Dean disqualified Evangelista and awarded the bout to Aina.  Subsequent replays shown on the broadcast showed clearly that the knee-strike landed on Aina's shoulder, and was therefore a legal strike, with Aina's pained reaction ending up inexplicable.

Dean testified that his original decision that that blow was an illegal strike to a grounded fighter was inaccurate. However, Dean came to the conclusion that he was mistaken after viewing slow-motion replay in the production truck with Douglas after the decision had been made to award Aina the victory by disqualification.

"The video showed it was a fair blow," said Dean.

Douglas seconded Dean’s comments and assured the commission the photo evidence presented to them was indeed accurate.

To make a long short, Evangelista filed an appeal with the CSAC seeking to have the DQ overturned to either a TKO win for himself, or a No Contest at the very least.  According to Savage, after much deliberation, the CSAC voted to overturn the DQ and declare the bout a "No Decision":

The commission openly deliberated as to what they could or couldn’t do according to California law. Commissioner Mario Rodriguez offered a pair of motions that could not find a second -- one to change the decision to a technical knockout and another to change it to a technical draw.

Commissioner Dr. Christopher Giza raised a concern after both motions failed that the regulatory body was in danger of setting a precedent in regards to using instant replay, a matter that was also on Monday’s meeting docket.

After clarification was made as to the number of rounds in the contest, Rodriguez then offered a third motion to change the outcome to a no decision. It was immediately seconded and unanimously passed.

With the Nevada State Athletic Commission having just approved the use of video replay by referees in situations just like this one, one wonders if the CSAC will soon approve replays for MMA as well, to minimize the possibility of faulty decisions in the future

Regardless, the once-again undefeated Evangelista was pleased with the outcome of the hearing:

"I’m glad the loss is taken off the record. I just think I fought a great fight and everybody else saw that I was winning the bout,"