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Add Luiz dutra to the list of guys who just don't quite get it. After a series of illegal elbows ended his fight against Kiichi Kunimoto back at UFC Fight Night Singapore on January 4th, Dutra found himself stunned to be on the wrong end of a disqualification loss. He's no longer arguing that the blows weren't illegal, but he has his own ideas of how to make it right. Dutra spoke to MMA Fighting on Thursday:
"At the heat of the moment, I didn't see that I was landing illegal blows in my opponent," Dutra wrote in an open letter sent to the media on Thursday. "I saw the replay and realized that I did actually hit him with elbows to the back of the head, though.
"I was very sad with the loss, and even worse to see that some people think that I did it on purpose. I've raised three kids and worked hard for 15 years to be in the UFC, and I would never hurt another fighter."
...
"I hope they give me another chance inside the Octagon to make my Brazilian fans happy," he said. "If (my next fight) happens in Brazil, again with Kunimoto, I would be really happy. I just want to show the world that it was as accident and that I'm the same Luiz ‘Besouro' that you watched fighting at TUF: Brazil."
It's hard to put a lot of stock in him saying he would never hurt another fighter. I know what he means, but still... Beyond that his request to rematch Kunimoto in Brazil just seems entirely selfish. He's had his opportunity to win this fight and he screwed it up. If Kunimoto isn't asking for a rematch (and I'm not saying he's not) then Dutra certainly isn't in any place to ask for one, especially not in his own country. And finally, lets not forget that this is Dutra's second attempt at a public apology. He didn't blame Kunimoto for overacting this time, so he's slowly improving. Perhaps next week he'll have gotten it down to a simple, "I'm sorry."
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