'Disappointed' Abel Trujillo on controversial loss: 'I didn't get to fight'

Abel Trujillo faced Gleison Tibau at UFC Fight Night 77 on Saturday night, but things didn't quite go his way. The 32-year old suffered his second consecutive submission loss, but the stoppage was arguably controversial.

Tibau attempted a rear-naked choke early in the first round, but it appeared as though Trujillo was slipping out of trouble. However, referee Keith Peterson called a halt to the contest because he believed that Trujillo went unconscious, when in fact, he did not. Trujillo was very disappointed by the referee's mistake because he felt he was far from out of the fight.

"I was getting out, I could feel it in my heart," Trujillo told BloodyElbow.com following the fight. "I'm 'Killa' -- I get put in bad positions in all my fights but I have heart and I get out, that's why I'm exciting. I would respect the decision if I went unconscious or tapped."

Prior to this outing, Trujillo hadn't fought since December 2014, when he was choked out by current top contender Tony Ferguson. The Blackzilians fighter doesn't believe the layoff affected his performance one bit.

"Layoff was no issue," he said. "I felt great."

Trujillo was not just disappointed because he lost when he shouldn't have -- he didn't even get the chance to show off the improvements he made over the past year, which included better conditioning.

"I'm not mad -- I'm disappointed I didn't get to fight."