McCarthy responds to Lombard DQ

John McCarthy can definitively answer every question about MMA refereeing, ever. There was a big question on Saturday night when referee Mark Smith disqualified Hector Lombard on Saturday night, for a late blow vs. C.B. Dollaway at UFC 222.

Before you listen to McCarthy’s sage assessment, watch what happened.

https://twitter.com/UFCONFOX/status/970104834291466241

Now get educated.

McCarthy explains to Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting that as the 10 second warning clacker sounds, referees are supposed to start a count in their head, and with about three seconds remaining, place themselves as visibly as possible, perpendicular to the fighters, close enough to physically move between the fighters while shouting “TIME!” at the appropriate moment.

“I know as my arm goes straight, as soon as it is straight everything that passes it is late,” explained McCarthy to Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “So, I don’t have to guess. I don’t have to go back to an instant replay. I don’t have to do any of that. It’s clear that if my arm comes in between them and something passes it, that’s late. If my arm is bent as it’s coming and it goes past it, it’s good.

[Smith] did 90 percent right, let’s say. If he had done everything right, would that have stopped Hector from going and throwing those two blows? Especially the last one. I can’t say that it would have. He still could have done it. But it’s a much clearer, ‘Oh, I’ve got a referee that’s actually coming in between.’ It could have actually stopped Hector. The referee is not off to the side at a distance of 3 feet and that might have been the difference between us seeing the second round, because Hector would have stopped.

Your job is to do things the same way for every f***ing fight there is, because there’s a purpose behind it. If you don’t do it, this is what can happen.

[Lombard’s] actions are, he threw things after the sound, even after the call of the referee, because Mark did call it. He wasn’t in that position that I would want to see him in, but he did make the call of ‘time’ and it was before Hector decided to throw those. And Hector should have been disqualified. Mark Smith was right for disqualifying Hector in that situation.

It’s the referee’s responsibility to make sure that the fighter knows that it’s the end of the round. And we do that through the mechanics of putting myself in between them, my arm coming out, calling time and we have the reasons why.

Is it the bell that ends the round? Yeah, it is. Because it’s the notification. But it’s the referee that has got to do things to make sure that they end the round properly.

Lombard says he plans to appeal the DQ. Good luck with that.