Female featherweight Norma Dumont did not have the Octagon debut she expected, but she wanted the fight to go a little longer before the referee stepped in to wave it off.

At UFC Norfolk, the ‘Immortal’ suffered a one-punch knockout defeat by the hands of former Invicta FC champion Megan Anderson, but Dumont claims she was not fully out of the fight when ref Kevin McDonald intervened.

In an interview with Combate, the 29-year-old said she never lost consciousness after eating Anderson’s right hand. She claims she was even trying to catch Megan’s heel or arm in order to initiate a grappling exchange, but did not have a chance to pursue it for too longe before the stoppage.

“I was OK when Megan hit me. I fell down and felt that I took a hard shot, but I was entirely aware of the fight. So much so that she came for me and I held her arm and heel. My knee was also active in her chest area. It’s super questionable, but I don’t like to go after the referee. At the exact time he stepped in, I was like ‘No, no’, but it’s no use fighting it, because it’s over. He has already called it.”

Up until the moment of the knockout, Norma felt like she was having the exact fight she planned for, with her game plan working just like her team expected. The only thing that went wrong being Megan’s punch, because Anderson has a longer reach, landed before the Brazilian’s hand could, which led to the end of the match.

“I was doing the right thing, it was going according to plan. Nothing bothered me, I was feeling comfortable, Megan likes to be a hunter, but I didn’t let her do that. I brought the fight to her and made her back down. I did my clinch work against the cage, it was a normal situation. When I let her go, I wasn’t tired, I just backed off and knew she would throw a straight punch, we trained for that and I threw mine, too, but her hand landed first. It’s simple. She landed first. If she hadn’t, my hand would’ve landed. I’m happy, though, because Megan is a tough athlete, tall, but I showed the world who I am. I made my debut in the best way possible, it only lacked a proper ending. Everything was all right with me.”

Before the loss, Norma Dumont (4-1) was undefeated in her professional MMA career, with four victories on the Brazilian regional circuit, with two submission and two decision wins. Her last being a majority decision victory back in August 2018.