Dana White is not happy with how UFC 208 went in general, but he’s particularly not happy with the refereeing of the main event. He has not been shy about expressing this fact, not that he ever is.
“I feel that the ref from New York shouldn’t be ref-ing a main event fight,” White told media after the event. “They don’t have enough experience,”
White seems to be blaming the commission more than the referee himself. As the fight was held in the state of New York, it was the New York State Athletic Commission who determined the referee. Since New York just recently legalized and regulated MMA, their pool of referees do not, as of yet, have much experience.
“He should not have been in there. But again, we don’t make those decisions, the commission does. That was a bad decision by them. If that guy takes a point for hitting after the bell, it’s a draw — the only possible way this night could be any more (expletive).”
The commission could have decided to go with a referee from outside the state. Instead Todd Anderson was chosen for the bout.
Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie
“Everybody was blowing me up on my phone,” White continued.
“What’s wrong with this ref is that he doesn’t have big-fight experience like that. None of these guys do from this state yet. He should’ve had one of the experienced MMA refs in there ref-ing the main event.”
The controversy surrounding the Holm vs. de Randamie bout stems from two instances where de Randamie hit Holm with shots after the buzzer. While Anderson did give de Randamie warnings each time, he did not take away a point.
Technically the buzzer is to signify to the referee that he should step in-between the two fighters. The fighters are to keep fighting until the referee stops them. With that being said however, most fighters drop their hands when the buzzer sounds. De Randamie never did punch around the referee which would be grounds for a deducted point or potentially even disqualification. Taking the rulebook to the literal extreme then, the fault lays with the referee and not with de Randamie.
Anderson then seemed to get between the two fighters before the final buzzer for the 5th round sounded.
Holly Holm Appeals Result
“We respectfully request the commission review referee Anderson’s failure to assess a foul and render a decision regarding a point deduction following Round 2, and failure to assess a foul and a point deduction following Round 3, and determine an appropriate result,” – quote taken from Holm’s official appealing to the New York State Athletic Commission.
Holly Holm has appealed the decision, stating referee Todd Anderson failed to deduct points for shots landed after the buzzer. The appeal also states Anderson failed to separate the two fighters in a timely manner at the end of rounds 2 and 3. Considering the fight was a unanimous 48-47 victory for de Randamie, even the deduction of one point would have changed the result.
Germaine de Randamie Statement
De Randamie issued a statement via social media regarding the controversial bout.
fuck that Ref . . . . Re:Match i say.. . . . that Ref Suck’t, he shoulda took 2pts away from that cheep shot artist. . .. fire his ass back down to the local circuit leagues
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