Efter matchen mot Jennifer Maia på Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 fick segrande Sheila Gaff utstå en hel del kritik för osportsligt beteende. Det hela rörde att när matchen inleddes så sträcktes nävarna ut för att hälsa, något som blivit kutym i sporten, men när man väl kom fram till varandra så inledde Gaff anfallet innan hälsningen genomförts. Tio sekunder senare var matchen stoppad via knockout.
Gaff berättar i en nyligen genomförd intervju att vanan att hälsa på varandra när matchen inletts inte är hennes kopp te.
”Touching gloves over and over again is indeed not my cup of tea. My job is to beat the best super flyweights in the world and my style is to go all out from the opening bell. I never fought to score points, I’ve always been looking to finish my fights as quickly as possible.
The whole thing came across very unfortunately. The only thing I can say about it is that I had no ill intent, it just happened in the heat of the moment. I have a lot of respect for Jennifer as an athlete and of Chute Boxe as a team. I have always admired fighters such as Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Shogun and have molded my fighting style after them.”, säger Gaff till tyska Ground and pound.
Gaff menar att hon kan förstå att man reagerade på det inträffade men att det gjorde henne ledsen att folk tror illa om henne.
”Of course I’ve been following the discussions on the internet and I’m very sad about it. I was seriously considering to drop out of the Cage Warriors tournament because of it. Inside the cage I get straight down to the nitty-gritty, but when you allege I’m malicious and fake, I’m very sensitive about it and it makes me very sad.
I definitely did not fake touching gloves, all I did was starting to fight right after it. That’s just my disposition. If I had to back off after touching gloves, that would destroy my game. It’s really dumb such a big fuss was made about it as the right I landed after touching gloves had zero impact.”
För närvarande inväntar Gaff resultaten av den kommande matchen mellan Rosi Sexton och Aisling Daly på Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 47 där vinnaren kommer att möta Gaff för att utse organisationens mästare i damklassen i 125 pounds.
