It could have been a night Eduardo Henrique da Silva dos Santos, or simply Eduardo Chapolin, would have remembered for a long time. Yet, for a silly mistake, he ruined what would have been a golden memory.
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Making his UFC debut on short notice, the Brazilian, instead of impressing the UFC top brass and justifying their decision to enroll him, ended up embarrassing them after he made an illegal move during their flyweight-turned-catchweight bout against veteran Charles Johnson. It didn’t take long for the referee Jason Herzog to punish him for using the illegal tactic in the penultimate fight of the preliminary segment at UFC 330, headlined by Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry.
“Chapolin was dominating Charles Johnson and then illegally kneed him on the ground. What a stupid move,” Adam Martin noted on X. “Jason Herzog took 1 point from Chapolin for the illegal knee/eye poke, which is good to see.”
The veteran journalist’s frustration, likely shared by many others, stems from what happened in the bout. Despite it being his first bout, Chapolin, without showing any sign of nervousness, started off on a strong note and put Johnson on the back foot, thwarting the American’s repeated takedown attempts.
Things, however, got nasty later in the round when Chapolin poked Johnson’s eye. The American, it seems, expected Herzog to pause the action. But that did not happen. As a result, he absorbed more punishment, including a takedown.
Chapolin was dominating Charles Johnson and then illegally kneed him on the ground.
— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) August 16, 2026
What a stupid move. #UFC330
The move that shocked everyone soon followed when the Buritama, São Paulo-native threw a kick at Johnson as he tried to get up from the ground after a grappling exchange. This time, however, Herzog took notice and immediately deducted a point from Chapolin.
Turning it up in the second round, Chapolin dropped Johnson. But he visibly failed to capitalize, allowing the American to get back into the fight. Entering the final round, Johnson started dominating. Throwing a straight right at Chapolin, he took position behind him in the ensuing scramble that eventually led to a Scottish twister, likely the second one in UFC history.
According to Verdict MMA’s scorecard, the fight was even, with both Johnson and Chapolin having 18.5 each.
Chapolin deserves praise for taking up the fight at the last minute. Johnson was originally booked against Jose Ochoa. The Peruvian, however, suffered an injury in the lead-up to the event, forcing the UFC to look for an opponent for Johnson.
They quickly zeroed in on Chapolin, who was coming off a victory on the Contender Series in September last year.
The win over An Tuan Ho followed a championship fight at Legacy Fight Alliance (LFA), where Chapolin defeated Devon Lozej to become flyweight champion. Months before that, he suffered a loss to Joseph Morales on Ultimate Fighter 33.
Taking that history into consideration, a loss on his promotional debut with a point deduction does not bode well for the 30-year-old.
Referee calls take center stage
Herzog’s decision, meanwhile, deserves attention given how in recent weeks, refereeing decisions, particularly those involving veteran Herb Dean, have come under scrutiny.
From the most recent UFC Fight Night Vegas, where he seemingly failed to deduct points from Guilherme Pat in the fight against Steven Asplund, to UFC Baku, where his inaction against Shara Magomedov’s reported infractions attracted much scrutiny, Dean has found himself at the center of several controversial moments.
The most notable instance, however, remains the White House card, where Alex Pereira blamed Dean for the loss against Ciryl Gane in the co-main event.
Dean appears to have followed Herzog’s example at UFC 330, when he stepped in to protect an injured Edson Barboza during the bout against Esteban Ribovics.
Things now look up for Chapolin’s revival, meanwhile. A former LFA flyweight champion himself, the Kansas native, who has around ten professional boxing fights on his resume, has been a UFC regular since 2022. Besides the LFA appearance, he shares another common trait with Chapolin: he lost his UFC debut against Muhammad Mokaev.
Where he stands out is in featuring in his fourth fight of the year. Before facing Chapolin, he came off a submission loss to Asu Almabayev at UFC Baku, making it his seventh defeat in the promotion against nine wins.
The emphatic win at UFC 3303 will likely raise Johnson’s stocks, as he now has the rare distinction of pulling off the second Scottish Twister in UFC history. The first was delivered by Murtazali Magomedov at UFC Vegas 119 two months ago.
