Should the fighter be protected or given the chance to go out like a warrior ?

[awymore]

He was going for a leg. Plenty of fighters have done that before and been allowed to continue.

Don't get me wrong, I think Cejudo would have definitely gone on to win. By stopping it too early it puts doubt in some people's minds and takes away from his victory.

Slowly lurching forward and grabbing for a leg with two hands is not an intelligent defense though. He's doing nothing to protect his head. If the fighter won't protect himself, the ref has to

 

[jx820]

This is a ridiculous debate. If you fail to block or return 10 consecutive strikes (or however many that was) you can't call it intelligent defense even if you are working for position. He was eating too many shots and his best efforts weren't stopping it.

 

[gotBooched]

I agree with this to an extent. Being a champ should not change anything.

I do think a ref could and should give certain fighters more or less time to recover. I'm okay with them pulling the plug early on older/chinny fighters (current Reem, Chuck at one point) and giving fighters that are notoriously durable and havn't been stopped by strikes a bunch a little extra time (Edgar, Hendo for a long time)

How do you do that though.

 

[Etherized]

Protected imo -

We’ve seen fighters not come back the same after allowed being a warrior a couple times

 

[Strijfy]

It was a real toss up. TJ was about to perform a textbook single leg and submit Henry with it. Glad we are still talking about it.

TJ was about to perform fuck all, I dont know how many people say he was grabbing at his leg but theyre only grabbing at straws, his head was flopping around on his neck. He was going to do nothing except get his head severely beaten some more
edit: ok didnt read the sarcasm ...unusual for me ...
nevertheless my comments still stand

 

[IloveTHIS]

Millions of dollars in the line, record, major legacy consequences, months of training, etc

Let them go out on their shield. Personally as a fan, or a fighter, I strongly prefer too late versus too soon. Dont let them get deaded, but if they still show signs of life give them a chance.

You're robbing them of the opportunity to show heart and get an awe inspiring come back.

We've seen it countless times

 

[Fergelmince]

We're getting mixed signals here . A referee tries to let the fighters fight to the end and he is shunned then has his license stripped. Another referee protects a fighter from taking too much damage and he is getting attacked .

I wanted to see the snake go to sleep saturday night, that official robbed us. now we have to hear captain salt complain like we didn't just watch him get tossed around and beat down. Bring back yamasaki and let's let them all be warriors from now on!!

Let them all go out like warriors. So the class action lawsuit in 10 years will be about 10 times bigger. Yeah that’s it.

 

[Speakerbox]

Protected. Going out like a warrior is dumb. This is a sport not a roman colosseum. I feel morally compromised about watching people punch each other for entertainment already, last thing I want is for everyone to get brain damage.

 

[Anomonis]

Look, Bisping has got his right hand up ready to defend against the next strike. That's an intelligent defense. Bisping was robbed here worse than TJ!

 

[djason1988]

My least favourite stoppages are when guys cover up during flurries, and the ref yells "improve position!"

mutherfucker, protecting my face till this flurries ends is the best thing to do. This guy will tire out before me.

But instead your forced to move your hands, take shots and "improve" when covering up is the safest/best option.

Great point. There are several times a fighter is blocking everything on his arms and the fight is called when he's not even hurt. Actually happened to me in one of my Ammy fights, though I was well on my way to losing anyway so it didn't really bother me.

 

[TeddyT]

Just bleed. Ortiz was fine, max was gonna run out of steam soon.

J/K the refs that aren't on the ufcs payroll (herb) do a decent job. TJ needs to cry those crocodile tears, there was no robbery.

 

[Cold187um]

Look at former fighters like Gary Goodridge and Gerald McClellan and then picture your favorite fighter ending up like that. Some of the fights we watch yeah the guy is up and working but they're clearly on auto pilot

 

[Smalltownboy]

No round, no points, fight to the death!! Fly my pretties, FFLLLYYYYYY!!!!

 

[fightsnob]

3 knockdowns in the span of 10 seconds and tj was still eating big shots. stick a fork in that boy cuz he was done

Problem is I disagree that it was three knockdowns. To me It looks more like one continuous scramble consisting of only one knockdown. TJ was taking shots but he was moving his head away from the direction of the punches while prone in addition to going for offense of his own.

 

[Aforo88]

If they are working to improve their position, they should be allowed to continue.

If UFC is suppose to be a sport we need to see fighters addapt to the rules. Ur failing ur 2nd attenpt to single leg an olympic gold medalist and ur getting hit in the head in the process the next move should be to protect ur head so the ref dosnt stop it, not to go for a couple of more singles and hope the ref only stops it if ur flush KOd.

 

[TR1]

Protect the fighter, and change the perception that it is somehow humiliating to get KOed or TKOed.

Also more draws.

 

[gevoudane]

Athletes not warriors.

 

[lsa]

"Protect your self at all times"

If you dont the ref will.

 

[0verlord]

Only if he's about to die.

 

[Simian Raticus]

I don’t know what the correct answer is but it needs to be consistent.

This is all you can really ask and expect.

When you have even individual refs who can't hold themsleves to a consistent standard, it's a problem.