Referee discusses fight that went viral
Jorge Gomes: “I told him I was not a referee, that I’m a fighter, but since the situation was escalating and everyone was getting euphoric, I agreed to go there.”
A video recently went viral of a referee failure at an event in Brazil.
Jorge Gomes was the referee at Silmar ‘Sombra’ Nunes vs. Caio ‘Paturi’ Robson Silva at Capanema Fight Combat in Capanema City, Para, Brazil on Saturday, September 23. Nunes locked in a guillotine; Robson Silva didn’t tap, and went out. Then he told Gomes that Silva was out. The ref checked Silva multiple times but somehow could not tell that an unconscious fighter was unconscious.
Then Silva’s brother leaped over the fence and attacked Nunes. Then everyone piled on. Suddenly the ugly moment turned beautiful – Nunes immediately checked on Silva’s condition.
https://twitter.com/pancadante/status/912310646942953472
Crazy videos like this pop up with unfortunate regularity. Luckily, mixed martial arts is excellently served by Guilherme Cruz and when something happens in Brazil, he’s on it for MMA Fighting.
The original referee was supposed to be the respected WMMA pioneer Carmen ‘Casca Grossa’ Franca. However, Nunes asked for a different official, as Silva used to be coached by Franca. Nunes asked instead for Robson ‘Leao’ Luis. The promoter said it was charity event, and couldn’t pay the ref. Next, Nunes offered to pay for the ref, but Silva rejected his opponent paying for the ref.
Somehow the promotion then decided on Gomes, who had fought and lost to both Nunes and Silva. Silva’s brother said he was told that Gomes had been drinking before offering to officiate, something he flatly denied.
Are you crazy? said Gomes. Stop it. That’s not true. Not true at all. They can say whatever they want now though.”
However, there’s another issue – refereeing MMA is incredibly difficult, and Gomes isn’t a ref.
“I was there to watch the event, said Gomes. I’m not a referee, I’m a fighter. I’ve worked in a few fights before, but nothing big, only small shows. They had an issue with referees and the promoter got nervous, so he came to me, as I was in attendance with my wife, and asked me if I wanted to help him out.
“I told him I was not a referee, that I’m a fighter, but since the situation was escalating and everyone was getting euphoric, I agreed to go there. But I jumped on this grenade and I’m the one being criticized.
Gomes also offered his perspective on the final moments of the fight.
I moved his foot and it wasn’t loose, so I came back and checked his hand again, said Gomes. When I decided to stop the fight, his brother came in. You can notice on the video that right before his brother comes in, [Silva] moves his hand close to [Nunes’] ribs, so he wasn’t sleeping yet.
Many people say I did that on purpose because I don’t like him, but I don’t have anything against him. I’ve fought him and I’ve fought ‘Sombra,’ and even sparred with ‘Paturi’ for this fight, so I don’t have anything against him.”
Gomes also declined to say he regrets his actions, as it could appear to be admitting he meant for what happened to happen.
[Silva] told me not to interfere, and asked me to let it go because he would figure a way to win, that he would fight as long as he could handle, said Gomes.
Silva’s brother, light heavyweight fighter Dax Vinicius Silva apologized for attacking Nunes, and noted his actions may have prevented serious injury. ‘Paturi’ went to the hospital and is awaiting results from an MRI and CT scan.
My brother had headaches and was dizzy all day, said Dax Vinicius Silva.
The villain in the piece is the promoter. Last weekend a promoter in Singapore matched up two non-fighters in a kickboxing bout, and one of them died. Combat sports are inherently dangerous; if you can’t do it with competent officials, then it shouldn’t be done at all.
