MMA Referees is a tricky spot

[ApplesVild]

So we have a ref getting fired for letting a fight go way too long last week - I don't disagree with the decision, that guy did a terrible job although I feel Gifford's corner are equally to blame - And then this week he have a ref being brought to the commission and questioned for letting a fight end too early, apparently.

Refs make mistakes, they always will, and it's much easier to judge their split second decisions in hindsight, but is it fair to reprimand them for the choices they make in the moment?

A boxing approach to reffing would kill MMA, too strict, too quick to stop fights, but is there a suitable middle ground?

We have seen too many come back from near death performances to jump in when a fighter is rocked, but at the same time the way some fights go it's clear things aren't going to get any better for certain fighters in certain fights.

Should more pressure be put on corners to call fights?

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

Mikey B the sensitive twink is at fault for influencing people to hate that ref, he did a fine job

 

[LeNoirNePasMerde]

Mistakes are expected, it's the egregiously bad ones that are unforgivable.

 

[Congo66]

A boxing approach to reffing would kill MMA, too strict, too quick to stop fights, but is there a suitable middle ground?

That's a load of rubbish. What's the easiest way to win an MMA fight? A knockdown and then follow it up with a load of punches and you'll get the not intelligently defending TKO. The punches can land anywhere or just miss you'll still get the win. Or the 'fight back' ones when in mount where there's no way to fight back, you're in mount ffs.

There's no equivalent to that in boxing, covering up to avoid punches is intelligently defending yourself and you won't get stopped while blocking punches and you hardly ever get stopped for not fighting back when someone throws a load of punches at you. Standing stoppages in boxing are usually after knock downs and the fighter getting stopped is usually rocked again.

 

[ApplesVild]

That's a load of rubbish. What's the easiest way to win an MMA fight? A knockdown and then follow it up with a load of punches and you'll get the not intelligently defending TKO. The punches can land anywhere or just miss you'll still get the win. Or the 'fight back' ones when in mount where there's no way to fight back, you're in mount ffs.

There's no equivalent to that in boxing, covering up to avoid punches is intelligently defending yourself and you won't get stopped while blocking punches and you hardly ever get stopped for not fighting back when someone throws a load of punches at you. Standing stoppages in boxing are usually after knock downs and the fighter getting stopped is usually rocked again.

If we got as many standing TKO stoppages in MMA as we do boxing I believe MMA fans would get very annoyed. A lot of people didn't like the stoppage in the RDA/Alverez fight, but fights are stopped just like that in boxing all the time

 

[markys00]

That ref who got fired didn't deserve it. He did alright. Seems like they're focusing on the wrong thing. We need them firing judges. Like, all of them

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Did he actually get fired fired or just reassigned that night?

Regardless, reffing a womens match is dangerous too because if you stop it early you're sexist, at the right time you're sexist, and too late means you're a sexist and misogynist.

 

[beastman]

I'll never fault a ref for calling a fight a little early after a fighter is hit with a huge shot and falls limp to the canvas. Herb Dean has been criticized a little unfairly for that. It is on the fighter to not get blown up.

 

[Ekim]

I think with some of the recent deaths in boxing especially it's tough for these refs because you have to make a decision in the heat of the moment and you don't want someone getting seriously injured or killed but when a fighter is still defending themselves... yeah it's a tough spot for these refs.

And in the case of Herb in the Aspen Ladd fight you have to remember she was looking really bad at the weigh ins before the fight and I think he was taking that into account when GDR dropped her. Her body was already in a depreciated state before the fight even started, in his mind I think.

Bottom line is we don't want people dying or getting irreparably harmed in these fights, so again I think the refs deserve a fair amount of leeway because it's a tough job with high stakes even though we as fans mostly just regard it as being entertainment.

 

[igorvswanderlei]

Did the referee really get fired, or was he just relieved of duties for that particular card?

 

[usernamee]

Them bringing in Herb to defend his stoppage only makes me think about how judges need to be responsible for all their shit decisions in the same way.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

If a fighter is still trying to attack/advance the way Gifford was last week, the ref would have been wrong to stop it. Giffords corner should have stopped it imo.