Should Cain vs. JDS have been stopped earlier?
Herb Dean is inarguably one of the greatest MMA refs ever; his extraordinary skill and judgement in allowing a fighter…
Herb Dean is inarguably one of the greatest MMA refs ever; his extraordinary skill and judgement in allowing a fighter every chance to win were on full display Saturday night until he finally stopped it in the fifth. Ringside physicians likewise were given multiple chances to stop the fight, both by Dean and in between rounds.
However, UFC president Dana White would have rather seen it stopped earlier.
“That fight should’ve been stopped in the third,” White said later.
“I’m a guy who’s been around the sport for a long time, and boxing, and seen men who are too tough for their own good. And I think Junior dos Santos is one of those guys, in the last Cain fight and in this Cain fight. And I think that fight should’ve been stopped. I just don’t think he needed to take anymore punishment.”
“I wanted to throw in the towel.”
“If you watch that third round again when he’s getting hit, his arms are [out]. He’s not defending himself, he doesn’t have his hands up. He’s out.”
“There’s no need for a young, talented guy to take that kind of punishment when he’s out on his feet. I was kinda hoping somebody was going to throw the towel in or the ref would come stop it, or the doctor was going to stop it. One eye was closed, and the other was cut wide open. He was hurt.
“I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but I’m a believer. I always like to say that if anybody in his f—ing corner cares about him, please, throw in that towel. I thought the fight was done in the third round. Is Junior dos Santos tough enough and does he have the heart to go through it? Yeah, but does that mean he should? If you look at the fight, it ended in the fifth. That guy took seven, eight minutes more punishment that he didn’t need to take until it ended. That seven or eight minutes, I don’t know man. I just, I don’t like it.”
