MacArthur Grad Villante Falls in UFC Debut

It wasn’t exactly the ending he was hoping for in his first UFC fight. 

Wantagh native and former MacArthur HS football star Gian Villante lost in his first UFC match Saturday night to Ovince St. Preuz in a controversial ending.

Villante, 27, was accidently poked in the eye by St. Preux in the third round and told the referee he couldn’t see, which prompted the referee to immediately call an end to the fight.

The fight then went to the judges scorecards, giving St. Preux the win by technical decision.

Villante was visibly upset after he lost, pleading with the referee to let him continue:

“I was just reacting to his question…we were getting it going, you get poked in the eye, and then it’s over,” Villante said in a post-fight interview at SB Nation.  “I could see a minute later, begging with the guy to keep me over."

Villante, the 2002 Thorp Award winner for best football player in Nassau County, is now 10-4 in his MMA career. The light heavyweight was formerly with Strikeforce and had a successful college football career at Hofstra.

Judges scored the fight for Preux 30-28, 30-29 and 29-29.

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