Life after bite: Igor Severino thriving outside UFC, but hopes for eventual second chance

Igor Severino is winning. Even more importantly, he's happy.

Two years ago, the possibility of both of those things fell into question when Severino (10-1) was booted from the UFC after he bit an opponent. But Saturday, he won championship gold for OKTAGON, the fastest-growing promotion in Europe. It's a testament not only to his skills, but also his ability to overcome.

"I can't say I expected it to go like that," Severino told MMA Junkie on Thursday through a Portuguese-language interpreter. "Even though I had a great camp and was performing really well, I always put in my head it was going to be a war and five rounds of fighting and I'd have to struggle and all that. I don't let myself get overhyped, but then everything just worked out. Everything went as perfectly as we prepared for."

Severino, 22, captured the OKTAGON bantamweight title when he put away Khurshed Kakhorov with punches early in Round 2. Khakhorov (13-2) recently went 4-0 in PFL, a stiff test for any opponent.

The fight moved Severino to 2-0 since his UFC departure in March 2024. Severino was disqualified from his UFC debut when referee Chris Tognoni saw him bite opponent Andre Lima. Severino was notified of his UFC release minutes later.

The incident was highly publicized on an international level. In an emotional interview with MMA Junkie, Severino apologized for his action and said he didn't even really remember doing it, citing a blow to the head in a prior sequence as a plausible explanation.

In the nearly two years that have passed, however, Severino has learned not to avoid the memory of the incident. Instead, he embraces it. He's leaned into it, now going by the nickname "The Hannibal," a nod to fictitious serial-killing cannibal Hannibal Lecter. Severino even wears a mask, pre- and post-fight as part of the gimmick.

"It was tough back then," Severino said. "Now, some people would just shy away from it, try to make people forget and let it go. But I took the other approach. I added it to my career. I made it a part of me as a fighter, as a person. I always joke about it now. Now I have the mask. I took it and made it part of the show. Of course it wasn't right what happened. I don't even know how it happened back then, but it happened. People won't forget, as much as I'd like them to forget. So why not make a positive out of it? So now every time people ask me about it, I always start with a joke. Then I talk. I tell the truth and I go on.

"I had to make a different approach for all this. I couldn't keep all those negative things, all the negative aspects from it. Now, I kind of like it. It's fun: the entrance with the mask, people like it. People talk about it. People joke about it. I'm part of the jokes, too. I don't get mad about it. I think I've made a twist on this. I take it now in a much lighter way than I used to."

Severino is happy in OKTAGON at the moment. He has lofty plans to become the best pound-for-pound fighter the promotion has to offer, perhaps even moving to featherweight at some point to shoot for a second divisional title.

"I'm very grateful for them to give me the opportunity to give the platform that I have right now and to restart my career," Severino said. "I want to honor them, as well."

But Severino admits closure is needed in the UFC. Before all is said and done, he wants to write new chapters to his story there and not let his book end because of one mistake, even if it was a bite.

"I think so in the future," Severino said. "I'm just 22 years old. I have a long career ahead of me. There are a lot of chapters to be written. Yeah, I think it would be good to go back there and really cement my redemption. I think it would be a good story for everyone to show I can overcome that and show a different side of me. That's definitely something in the future I'd like to happen."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC fighter who bit opponent hopes for eventual second chance