XKO 10 included one of the more controversial decisions in recent memory. Douglas Frey and Steven Peterson were in round four of the XKO Bantamweight title fight when Frey appeared to clip a downed Peterson with an illegal knee to the head. Peterson was rendered virtually unconscious.

Somewhere between the referee, doctors, corner men and state officials, the fight was called and the results hung in the scoring of the first three rounds. Peterson was ahead after three rounds and took home the title.

The Frey supporters were outwardly dismissive of the knee being illegal and went as far as to post a video of the knee online. The video gives the appearance that the alleged knee landed on the chest and not the head of Peterson. This caused an online uproar even louder than the riotous outbreak that occurred at the Gym when the ring announcer indicated the fight was going to the judges' cards.

Post-fight commentary on the video and knee was everything from inconclusive to damning. Peterson has his own unique view of the knee having been in the cage and absorbed it, and shared his thoughts.

USCombatSports.com: What was your recollection of the actual knee?

Steven Peterson: I was on my knees reaching for his legs. I just remember thinking, he can't knee my head while I'm down. I was waiting for him to let go of the Thai clinch and go for a punch or something so I could stand back up. Then he pulled my head down. I remember seeing the knee come at me and after that It just went black; the next thing I knew I was laying there trying to remember what just happened.

USCombatSports.com: Do you think you were you able to continue?

Steven Peterson: I was disoriented and confused, I could not find my equilibrium and it seemed like everything was spinning, I looked at the ref and asked "don't I get time to recover?" I guess I wasn't making sense because he made me repeat myself. Then he called in the doctor, the doctor checked me out and determined I had a concussion. When they brought me to my feet I was on wobbly legs and still struggled to find my equilibrium. I could not continue.

USCombatSports.com: How was the fight called/stopped? Did the doctor call it, did the ref step in, or did your corner make the decision?

Steven Peterson: I'm not sure, but it was between the doc and the ref. I believe they called it once the doctor determined i had a concussion.

USCombatSports.com: Were you shocked that it went to the cards? Were you and your corner aware that if the fight stopped that it could go to the cards? If so, who told you it would go to the cards?

At the time I had no clue what they were [going to] do, I've seen this happen before in the Cerrone-Varner title fight, and I believe they went to the score cards in that fight too. I found out they were going to the cards only when the ring announcer announced it.

The Cerrone-Varner fight was a title fight at WEC 38. Cerrone landed an illegal knee to Varner's head, causing the fight to be stopped. Varner was ahead on the cards at that point and exited the cage with the WEC lightweight title.

USCombatSports.com: The crowd turned quickly. Have you had any experience dealing with a crowd so anti-Peterson before?

I'm used to being the underdog and fighting in front of hostile crowds, but never like that...It was like 2000 cheering for Doug, and like a hundred or so for me.

USCombatSports.com: I saw there was some back and forth between you and Doug on Facebook. Is there real anger between the two of you, or between you and Doug's supporters?"I have no anger towards anybody. Doug is handling this in a very immature fashion and so are many of his supporters. They can say what they want, but i know what happened, the ref knows what happened, and Doug knows what happened, as much as he doesn't want to admit it. At the end of the day, I have the belt, I have the 'W' and he's the one still crying about it and I'll continue to fight my heart out and keep my head up.

USCombatSports.com: Where does this go from here? Do you expect a rematch?

I'm going to continue training hard, and if my manager sets up a rematch then I'd love to whoop up on Doug again. Hopefully next time there won't be so many illegal blows. I counted three. I haven't seen the video yet but i am told there were four. One thing is for sure, Doug and I have unfinished business.