Big John's reffing during Neer/Bradley

[SPSUDISPATCH]

I was genuinely shocked during the Bellator main event. It was not the actions of either fighter though but the poor refereeing of the match by veteran BJM. BJM directly influenced not only the way the match unfolded but the very outcome.

In round one Neer had tied up Bradley thoroughly enough that Bradley could not attack or advance position. After nothing happened for a considerable amount of time, Neer asked McCarthy to stand them up and McCarthy said something to the effect, "You're playing the game, you're the one with him in lockdown. You have to improve position."

WHAT?! The idea behind the standup rule was that if a bottom fighter neutralized a top fighter to the extent he could do nothing, they would be stood up. Hell, Wanderlei made a career of stalling for standups and suddenly, BJM decides that he would rather watch a guy stall on top and do nothing as opposed to a guy stall on bottom and get a standup.

Forcing Neer to get up despite Bradley stalling opened Neer up to the pitty-pat that kept the fight on the ground boring us and putting a W in the win column for Bradley. Bradley might have won without BJM but McCarthy made it much easier.

 

[MachineMan]

Neer stalled. Why should he be rewarded with a standup? That's stupid. Neer is a f*g

 

[Grappleboxing]

I missed the fight on Friday. What exactly did Neer do? Was it similar to the begging Trujillo did when he was getting put on his back by Khabib during their fight?

 

[SPSUDISPATCH]

Neer stalled. Why should he be rewarded with a standup? That's stupid. Neer is a f*g

Bradley stalled and got a win. The guy on the bottom is on defense, Neer was taking no damage and wasn't being advanced on. If Bradley couldn't hit him or advance, why should they stay on the ground?

 

[Easy The Great]

Big John did nothing wrong

 

[The Reed]

I've always believed it takes 2 people to make a bad fight. This was the fault of 3.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Bradley stalled and got a win. The guy on the bottom is on defense,

Bradley didn't do much damage but he was able to put himself in advantage situations with EASE, Neers fault for not trying to learn how to fight from the bottom. If your that incapable to stop an opponents takedown, learn to formulate an offense from the bottom, whining to the ref isn't going to get it done.

 

[emperor]

Stand ups are purely done at the ref's discretion. Tell Neer to learn to wall walk.

 

[Bigj383]

Bradley stalled and got a win. The guy on the bottom is on defense, Neer was taking no damage and wasn't being advanced on. If Bradley couldn't hit him or advance, why should they stay on the ground?

Neer's face looked like he was taking damage. His head didn't spontaneously bleed on it's own.

The truth is Neer was a bitch in that fight and Big John was 100% in the right not to stand them up. If you have to rely on the 3rd man in the octagon to employ your gameplane then the problem is with you not the ref. It is the fighters job to get back to his feet, nothing Bradley did looked like he was intentionally stalling the fight.

 

[Meathead Jock]

The truth is Neer was a bitch in that fight and Big John was 100% in the right not to stand them up. If you have to rely on the 3rd man in the octagon to employ your gameplane then the problem is with you not the ref.

Well said

 

[Mavadorov]

Lmao bjm

 

[SeverianB]

.... was fantastic.

Neer complaining nothing was happening was a joke. There was a lot happening... his face was getting beat to shit. Big John would have been well within his rights to say much more choice words. I felt the "This isn't kickboxing" was pitch-perfect.

My message to Neer: Learn how to stop a takedown. Learn how to get up. Learn how to not have your face turned into hamburger when on bottom.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

My message to Neer: Learn how to stop a takedown. Learn how to get up. Learn how to not have your face turned into hamburger when on bottom.

He's been whining like this for years. He'll never learn.

 

[Furious George]

Haven't watched so I cant comment but if it was the same as every Neer fight ever he probably wasn't getting lay and prayed, he just doesn't have any sort of bottom game.

 

[branchtan]

Neer's face looked like he was taking damage. His head didn't spontaneously bleed on it's own.

The truth is Neer was a bitch in that fight and Big John was 100% in the right not to stand them up. If you have to rely on the 3rd man in the octagon to employ your gameplane then the problem is with you not the ref. It is the fighters job to get back to his feet, nothing Bradley did looked like he was intentionally stalling the fight.

The problem with your argument is consistency.

We've seen Big John make standups in similar situations many times before. Why is he drawing the line on playing the game now? If ever there was a fight on the ground that should be stood up, this was it.

It seems to me like Big John just didn't like Neer and that influenced his reffing. Big John's ego has gotten too big and he's interjecting himself in fights way more than most refs do lately... yet he didn't intervene in this fight when it was the correct decision to make because Neer gave him a smug face.

 

[tripnastic]

I've noticed a lot of the refs getting slower with their standups. It may be like another poster said that they're trying to get rid of stalling by not rewarding it with a standup.

 

[Oblivian]

Neer tried to play the bottom game too much. If you are going to go the route of trying to get a standup, close your guard throughout and hold the opponent down. Neer kept trying to go with a high guard or attack with strikes from bottom. Each time you attack, it's resetting the time of "no action" in the refs mind.

Your best bet is to consistently try to work your way up to where the guy on top is constantly struggling to keep you held down. When it becomes clear that he can get off no offense and you aren't going for any offense either, the standup will come quicker.

 

[Irenaeus]

In round one Neer had tied up Bradley thoroughly enough that Bradley could not attack or advance position. After nothing happened for a considerable amount of time, Neer asked McCarthy to stand them up and McCarthy said something to the effect, "You're playing the game, you're the one with him in lockdown. You have to improve position."

I didn't watch the fight, but from what you describe, I love that call. I wish it was policy instead of just McCarthy, however. I like consistent reffing.

WHAT?! The idea behind the standup rule was that if a bottom fighter neutralized a top fighter to the extent he could do nothing, they would be stood up.

Was that the idea? I don't know the reasoning behind it, but I dislike the notion that a fighter on the bottom stalling should be rewarded.

Stalling shouldn't be rewarded, whether on top or bottom. If Neer had a lockdown, then that's on him.

 

[decideonsuicide]

Death of mma

 

[Stan]

As Big John told Neer just before the winner was announced "it's your job to get up" and "this is not a kick boxing match".

The stand up rule was put into effect when wrestlers would just lay on top and do nothing. Bradley was constantly trying to improve position and just enough of GnP to prevent Big John from standing them up. Yes in the first round Neer held Bradley and looked for the standup but Bradley kept trying to get out. So it wasn't Bradley trying to stall it was Neer and that's the reason why Big John didn't stand them up. You would figure after fighting for so many years Neer would know how to get up from the bottom, not in this fight. Neer took all the damage while Bradley got a relatively easy win.