There were two fights at UFC 96 on Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, that took to extremes two of the most debated issues in refereeing in mixed martial arts: stopping fights too early and stopping fights too late.The night's opening bout -- between Shane Nelson and Aaron Riley -- was widely believed to have been stopped well before it should have. Riley was knocked down, but was already back into the fight before the referee stepped in.
In the case of Pete Sell and Matt Brown, the referee stepped in to stop the fight, appeared to have a change of heart once the fighters were already separated and stopping action, then inexplicably restarted the fight. What followed was what made it a much harder situation to swallow. Sell was clearly in another dimension for most of the rest of the fight, being battered around the cage, with Brown practically begging Yves Lavigne to stop the fight before he finally called a halt to the brutality.
"You've heard me so many times, especially in the last few weeks – wait until The Ultimate Fighter comes out – talking about reffing and judging; it's one of the hardest things in this sport right now. It drives me crazy," said UFC president Dana White at the UFC 96 post-fight press conference.
"Yves Lavigne is usually a very good referee. I hurt my arm tonight, beating on the Octagon screaming to stop that fight. I've never done that in eight years. I don't even know what to say."
There are definitely good referee's in this sport, but White pointed out a difference between those at the top, and those that just aren't quite getting it done.
"I think when they see a guy make a mistake, that it was a brutal mistake, like in the (Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley) fight, it messes with their head. And they think, 'I don't want to do that.' I think these guys just need to be confident and go in and make decisions. Stop the fight. If that's your decision, let them boo you. Who cares? You're the boss," he said, citing the lack of decision making among many officials.
He went on. "There's nobody, I shouldn't say nobody. There's a couple of guys out there that are real good. There's a whole bunch of guys that aren't.
"Yves Lavigne usually does a good job. The fight tonight was horrible. I think Herb Dean is great. Mario Yamasaki is good."
9 comments:
How can these refs "be confident" when Dana White stands there in front of the world press and slags off their decisions??? That's going to boost any refs confidence. How about conducting some, just some of the companys affairs in private, you moron!
i think unless you've been a ref, its heart to say wut they're thinking or feeling. im sure its just as an adrenaline rush for them when they see someone get knocked down badly, even if the fighter is fine, the ref will get very jumpy. however i do agree there have some been some extremely bad early stoppages that piss me off. usually done by herb dean
The safety of these fighters is NUMBER ONE! Period! Early stoppage is going to happen.
If you dont like it stop watching.
And the refs need to get it in there heads, If I think it should stop...TOUGH what everyone thinks. Im gonna stop it.
Yves Lavigne shouldve been fired for that Pete Sell and Matt Brown fight.
Pete Sell was clearly not fit to continue!
He couldve been seriously injured!
Thats gotta be the worst ever!
please these guys have been reffing for years, "how can they be confident with dana white.." your the moron. His business that he has built from the ground up gets a bad rep with bad ref's. Yves is one of the most experienced and he fucked up so he deserves what he got. All refs know that the fight is on them, they know that when they get into the business. Your a fucking moron buddy
If he's unhappy with the standard of reffing, give them a ticking off in PRIVATE and take the heat away from them. Repremanding them for the whole world to see is not the answer, that's going to make everyone scrutinise in the slightest detail every decision and just crank the pressure up even more on refs. Dana IS a total MORON and far too emotional to be head of a company like this!
Yves Lavigne has made alot of very bad decisions, even when he was in Canada, back in TKO Fighting League. Pete Sell was totaly in lala land when Lavigne told Brown to keep hitting him.
Where the hell was Herb Dean, Steve Mazagatti & Mario Yamasaki.
Dana White must be the biggest moron ever. He talks alot of shit about everyone and then hides behind the Fertitta brothers.
you can All kiss my ASS! YOU PUSSIES!
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