Gilbert Yvel - Bad Conduct and Subsequent Rehabilitation

Bad Conduct and Subsequent Rehabilitation

Yvel has acquired, through a number of instances, a lingering reputation in the MMA community for his temper and poor sportsmanship in the ring earlier in his career.

In his May 1998 bout with Karimula Barkalaev, Yvel was disqualified for biting his opponent (earning comparisons to the Tyson-Holyfield biting incident of 1997).

In his September 2001 match with Don Frye, Yvel repeatedly raked his fingers across Frye's face and pushed his thumb into Frye's eyes to avoid being wrestled to the mat. Yvel was disqualified in this match, as well, although the official reason given was for grabbing the ropes.

During Yvel's November 2004 match with Atte Backman, the referee separated the fighters as they were falling over the ropes in a clinched position. Yvel refused the attempts by the referee to get the fighters to resume the clinched position away from ropes, swatting the referee's hand away when he attempted to guide the fighters back together. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to restart the fight in the clinched position, Yvel suddenly punched the referee in the head, dropping him to the canvas, and then kicked him while he was down. This was Yvel's 3rd disqualification in six years.

A scheduled PRIDE 33 match in 2007 with Sergei Kharitonov had to be cancelled when the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) refused to grant Yvel a license to fight in their state due to his history of poor conduct.

Yvel's 2009 Affliction match-up with Josh Barnett was scheduled to take place in California. Again, because of his past behaviour, there was debate over whether he should be allowed to have a fight license. After taking the unusual step of arranging a personal meeting between Yvel, Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas and Chief Athletic Inspector Dean Lohuis, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) did license him to fight there.

In October 2009, after a new application, the NSAC again declined to grant Yvel a standard license but did grant him a limited, 1-fight only license to fight in Nevada due to his good conduct since his last instance of poor behaviour in 2004.