White: ‘Crazy’ TUF officiating led to positive changes
Dana White: “Finally, everything that I’ve been crying about and yelling about and screaming about finally came to a head in this episode of The Ultimate Fighter.”
Wednesday night saw the most bizarre officiating on TUF to date; that is 18 full seasons, plus the now six episodes of the 19th season. However, UFC president Dana White believes it was a catalyst for positive change.
Team Edgar’s Ian Stephens appeared to beat Team Penn’s Roger Zapata over the two rounds that are standard for TUF. The judges determined that a third round was necessary. During that third round, referee Steve Mazzagatti deducted a point from Zapata for illegal 12-6 elbows.
Then Zapata was announced as the winner, which is seemingly impossible.
One judge scored the third round 10-9 Stephens, which with the point deduction made it 10-8 stephens. However, two other judges scored it 10-9 Zapata, which with the point deduction made it 9-9, a majority draw.
Then, rather than go to an additional round, the judges were asked to name who they thought won the fight, and all three chose Zapata.
White explains.
In an interview before the fight on FOX Sports 1’s UFC Tonight, White said the incident has led to positive changes.
“It was super controversial,” said White as transcribed by MMAFighting. “Both teams saw what happened, knew what happened. You heard B.J. Penn and his team saying [to Zapata], ‘Hey, get out of here before they figure this thing out and make the right decision.'”
“I’ve had my issues with Steve Mazzagatti for a very long time. Don’t know the guy personally. He could be the nicest guy in the world. He’s just not a good referee. A referee is a guy who is supposed to be in control of the fight the whole time. Not only are the fighters supposed to know what’s going on but all the judges and fans are supposed to know what’s going on. Nobody ever knows what’s going on with Mazzagatti and his refereeing.
“The guy needs a lot more work before he ends up being in big fights on big stages and can affect peoples’ careers and lives.”
“[The athletic commission] put Mazzagatti in a position now where he’s going to have to stay in the lower fights, learn a lot more. Guy’s got a lot to learn. He’s not a bad guy. Nothing bad to say about Mazzagatti. He’s just not a good referee yet. He’s got a lot of work to do.”
“After that moment on The Ultimate Fighter I think it created change. Finally, everything that I’ve been crying about and yelling about and screaming about finally came to a head in this episode of The Ultimate Fighter. I think that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has done a great job fixing the problem and moving forward in fixing the future of reffing and judging in mixed martial arts. Here in Nevada, anyway.
“I think this was the explosion of what’s going on and has been going on here in Nevada for a few years now. I think this was the moment where the right people recognized what was going on and that some changes needed to be made.”
“The positive side to this is that after this went down [Francisco Aguilar], head of the athletic commission, has really stepped in and stepped up. Making sure not only that the right guys are in there, guys that have a history of making the right decisions.
“It’s never going to be perfect, but what he’s doing is after the fights now he’s sitting everybody down, they’re reviewing films, they’re seeing what things were done right, what things were done wrong and what can be done better. This situation, as crazy and as bad as it was, has actually been a positive thing for the state of Nevada.”