Friday's TUF Live Finale Highlights MMA's Referee Problem
During the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Live, which took place last Friday, there were no less than three, count 'em - three - controversial calls made by referees.
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The first was by far the most offensive, committed by female referee Kim Winslow during the fight between Erik Perez and John Albert. After some exciting transitions, Perez winds up with Albert's arm in a face-down arm bar and, while it seemed Albert was in trouble, he didn't show significant signs of distress and appeared to simply be attempting to free his arm. A few moments later Winslow stepped in and tapped Perez on the back, signaling that the fight was over. She claimed that a "Verbal Tap-Out" had occured, but there is virtually zero evidence to support this claim. Firstly, Albert immediately began to question her call and argue vehemently with the decision. Secondly, the cameras were straight on Albert's face when the fight was called and it's clear that his lips didn't move at all, ruling out him informing the ref that he quit. So was it a grunt or yell that caused Winslow to interpret a "Verbal Tap-Out"? One would hope not; in a fight, you're going to grunt and you're going to yell but that doesn't mean you want to stop. A fighter has every right to let his arm be broken in an armbar without tapping out if he so chooses. (See Nogueira vs Mir II and how Herb Dean doesn't stop the fight until the moment Big Nog officially taps) The referee has the sole authority to stop a fight; but that doesn't mean they have the right to stop it whenever things get a little ugly. Thankfully the UFC awarded both men with their win bonuses, as Dana White saw it unfit to have a man train, prepare, & sacrifice for a fight only to lose because a referee decided to do their job so incorrectly. In the end, though, this is a permanent red mark on Albert's career that will never go away. For me, instances like this call in to question how referees like Kim Winslow can sleep at night.
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The second questionable call came from none other than Steve Mazzagatti (because if you write an article about referee mistakes without mentioning "The Fight Killer" Mazzagatti, you're just an idiot speaking gibberish) during the match between Chris Tickle and Daron Cruickshank. In the first round Tickle lands an upkick on Cruickshank, who is kneeling in Tickle's closed guard. Mazzagatti stopped the clock to allow Cruickshank to recover and gave Tickle a warning about keeping his feet in check before letting the fight continue. Oh wait, that's not what happened at all; without giving Tickle a warning, Mazzagatti deducted a point from him before allowing the fight to continue. Not only is it unacceptable (in almost any case) to deduct a point from a fighter in a three round fight without first giving him warning, but it can easily be argued that the upkick was an accident (for reasons other than that it was the first offense). As the upkick occurs, Tickle switches his hips in a clear attempt to either sweep or get back standing up; this would mean that when the kick happened Tickle was really just trying to swing his feet, which were coincidentally on either side of Cruickshanks head, in order to gain leverage to move his hips. Supporting this case is the fact that both Tickle's feet were moving and how they were moving when foot met face. Luckily for Mazzagatti this point deduction wasn't the make or break factor of the fight, which Tickle lost unanimously by two points. However this was yet another questionable call that needs to be made note of, if for no other reason than to help build the case that Mazzagatti has no business being anywhere near a fight even as a spectator, but much less as an official overseeing an event that affects the careers, health, and possibly even survival of two other human beings.
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The third and final riot-inciting call, which could actually be argued to be split into three seperate bad calls of their own, also came from Steve Mazzagatti. In the main event, which saw welterweights Jake Ellenberger face off against Martin Kampmann for a the next rung up the ladder towards title contention, some exciting action took place. Well...sort of. The two fighters opened the first round with some explosive exchanges and Ellenberger caught Kampmann with a hit that had him crumpled on the ground and at the mercy of a barrage of punches from "The Juggernaut". Many were calling for the fight to be stopped on the grounds of a TKO, as Kampmann had clearly been knocked out and, even having come to after hitting the mat, was not intelligently defending himself for long enough that almost any other ref would have waved his arms and ended the fight. However, Kampmann managed to shake himself awake just enough to put Ellenberger in a guillotine choke hold that wasn't tight enough to stop him but was tight enough to keep him there, as Mazzagatti allowed "The Hitman" to sit against the cage, hold his opponent close enough to whisper sweet nothings into his ear, and recover for the last four and a half minutes of the round. So, to recap, Mazzagatti didn't call the TKO when there was a clear case for it and he didn't stand the men up when there was no action going on for the better part of a round. When round two began, the explosive exchanges resumed, with each fighter getting rocked but recovering quickly until the two got into the clinch. After three knees in the clinch, Ellenberger went down just like Kampmann did. But now, instead of giving the downed man, this time Ellenberger, a chance to recover or defend himself, Mazzagatti steps in and stops the fight. Also allow me to add that Jake had his legs wrapped tightly around one of Kampmann's, showing that he was plenty awake to at least lock his feet together and start forming a foundation for whatever his next move may be. So both Kampmann and Ellenberger are knocked out and wake up once they hit the mat but Mazzagatti, either realizing his mistake from the first round and wanting to redeem himself or perhaps just having put money on Kampmann, decides not to let Ellenberger recover for even a miniscule fraction of the time he allowed his opponent in the first round. For Christ's sake, he nearly stopped the fight before Ellenberger even hit the mat; how can you justify a call like that? If the reason for this case of repulsively inconsistent judgement is that Steve realized his initial mistake and didn't want to make it again then, while his intentions weren't bad, he obviously still wasn't thinking things through. If you make the mistake of letting the fight go a little farther than it should and, in turn, you give one fighter an advantage then it's more offensive to deny the other fighter such a chance than it is to perhaps let the fight go a little too long while he's on the receiving end of some punches. Argue all you want about whether it's better to stop a fight too early or too late (though we all prefer to see it stopped at the right time), I stand by my words. Show me a fighter who says he'd rather have a fight stopped when he still has some fight left in him than take one extra punch and I'll show you a fighter who's never been on the receiving end of a ref's bad judgement.
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In closing, Friday night's blatant offenses are just another page in another chapter in the tome that is the history of wreckless judgement on the part of athletic commission officials everywhere.
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On a Side Note: If you're looking to regain a little faith in the referees whose decisions have so much power over our beloved sport, check out Herb Dean's commendable stoppage during the match between Justin Lawrence and John Cofer on the same night.
I recommend we, the fans, dub him Herb "Perfect Timing" Dean. Or maybe Herb "Dana White Doesn't Even Question Me" Dean. Or something to that effect, I'll be honest - I'm not terribly clever. Suggestions?