Dana White calls for officials accountability
UFC President Dana White feels that key officials fell short in their performance at UFC 149. Matt Riddle vs. Chris Clements…
UFC President Dana White feels that key officials fell short in their performance at UFC 149.
Matt Riddle vs. Chris Clements
Riddle lands liver kick, ref Josh Rosenthal, incorrectly believing it was a groin kick, briefly breaks the action.
“It’s a kick to the body, and Rosenthal jumps in the middle because he thought it was a kick to the groin,” White said. “Come on man, you’re standing right there. Open your eyes. Pay attention, this is what you’re getting paid to do. You choose to do this. If you don’t want to do it 100 percent, don’t do it. Go do something else. The fight could’ve been ended right there. That’s a situation where he doesn’t see it, he stops the action, gets half-assed in there instead of making a clear, decisive decision. And what if Riddle lost the fight after that, at a point where he could have won the fight because he had him hurt to the body with a beautiful kick? Which those are hard to land. You don’t see those landed all the time where you hurt a guy. And he jumps in the middle.”
Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan
Rather than break up clinches against the cage, ref Yves Lavigne did little to change the play of the game.
“Lavigne? I’m so pissed at Lavigne,” White said. “He just stands there like a dope and watches these guys clinch on the fence, not advancing their position, not doing damage. Just standing there for two rounds – and then you let them do it for an entire five minutes in a three-round fight. And again, I blame all three involved in that. The two fighters and the ref. But the ref’s job is to protect the fighters, make the right calls, and make sure they fight.”
Ryan Jimmo vs. Anthony Perosh
Ryan Jimmo knocked out Anthony Perosh in seven seconds – officially – but White thinks Rosenthal was slow to call an end to the action, resulting in Jimmo missing the all-time fastest KO record.
Again, it was Rosenthal at the helm, and White wondered if he’d stepped in between the fighters fast enough, though the replay showed Rosenthal stopped the fight in less than one second, with Jimmo only having time to land one more strike.
Nick Ring vs. Court McGee
Local Calgary fighter won a decision that was popular with the hometown crowd, but wrong in the eyes of many ibservers.
While answering a question about the UFC’s role in selecting officials in locations with athletic commissions — none, he said — he made allusion to the Nick Ring vs. Court McGee.
“If I was picking the refs and a decision tonight like Nick Ring happened, you’d think that it was because of me,” White said. “You’d think that I did that because Nick Ring was a superhero and just saved a couple of people from getting beat up and I wanted him to win in Canada because it would be good for our promotion. Which isn’t at all what I want. I want the guys who deserve to win, to win. That’s what I want. And it drives me insane when that doesn’t happen.”
“Any job you have and you don’t do your job, you get reprimanded, or you get suspended. You’re suspended for three fights, or you have some kind of a class where you have to watch the fights and see what you did wrong. If there’s no accountability? Who cares?”