Dana White and Steve Mazzagatti won’t be inviting each other over for any summer pool parties this year. The UFC President has been adamant in his dislike (and distrust) of Mazzagatti as an official for MMA. White went on a rant in the post-UFC 161 media scrum about Mazzagatti’s ref job in the Jon Fitch-Josh Burkman rematch at World Series of Fighting 3.
In case you missed it, Burkman rocked Fitch with some punches and followed it up with a tight guillotine choke. Watching the fight, you can see Fitch go limp, as he passes out and Burkman actually releases the hold, rolls Fitch over and begins to celebrate before Mazzagatti even steps in to call the fight.
White was quick to point out the mistake on Mazzagatti’s part, but Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer was quick to defend his referee. MMA Fighting provided the info.
It’s neither a positive or a negative on the referee. All of us in the arena, and the commentators who know their stuff, were really shocked Jon was out. Steve was right there. He had to walk two steps. He walked two steps and waved off the fight…When Josh had the hold, he (Mazzagatti) was one step away. He had a perfect view. Josh flipped him away from the ref, then stood up. I would praise the referee if he did a good job. But here, there’s nothing to talk about the ref. It wasn’t a good job or a bad job.
Kizer attempted to defend Mazzagatti by claiming that Fitch passing out as a result of the hold was equivalent to a flash knockout. I’m not buying that, however, as it’s very easy to see a fighter get knocked out, regardless of the position of the referee. Mazzagatti was on the opposite side of where Fitch’s head was, and there’s no way he could’ve had any clue about the whereabouts of Fitch while in the guillotine hold.
Where Kizer’s story has the most credibility is his discussion of Bas Rutten’s commentary of the match. Burkman had the guillotine tight but only had a half-guard. Finishing that hold without regaining full guard is quite difficult to do.
Bas Rutten, who was doing the live commentary at the moment Josh got the move, he said how Josh didn’t have full-guard. He gave the impression it (the guillotine) wasn’t going to work. He then stood up, and there was awkward silence from Bas. He was shocked. Other fighters in the front row were shocked. When Josh started to stand up, he (Rutten) thought that he’s not going to get him, so he’s going to transition to another move. Then he saw it and said,”Wow, Jon Fitch is out.”
Mazzagatti has become a lightening rod for attention and scrutiny due to his prior mishaps, but Kizer believes the attention belongs elsewhere.
“The story should be about Josh getting an amazing win, doing the right thing and releasing the hold,” said Kizer. “This isn’t about the ref.”
White has gone on the record numerous times about Mazzagatti and his failure of being a competent referee, an issue Kizer believes that stems from an incident all the way back at UFC 81 when Mazzagatti called a foul on Brock Lesnar for hitting Frank Mir on the back of the head. The foul was called in the midst of a flurry that looked to be causing an end to the fight.
Instead, Lesnar and Mir were restarted on the feet, and Mir would later submit the former WWE star.
“Brock meant a lot of money to them when he lost that fight from being stood up,” Kizer said. “But there was definitely a foul, whether accidental or international, and then Brock got caught.”
White insists he makes it a point to let the NSAC and Kizer know he doesn’t want Mazzagatti anywhere near the Octagon.
I don’t know how many more times I can say it. I don’t know how many more times he can look bad. It’s f***ing crazy. You’ll hear people say the Nevada State Athletic Commission is in Zuffa’s pocket. Yeah, okay, if the Nevada State Athletic Commission gave a s*** about what we thought, Mazzagatti would have been gone a long time ago. The Nevada State Athletic Commission used to be the best in the country. It’s not anymore.
Both White and Kizer attributed the other’s ego as to a reason why nothing has changed in this situation.
Both sides have valid points, as Mazzagatti was clearly slow in reacting to what was going on and appeared to be in a bad spot to call the action. Referees are human and mistakes will happen, and I’m sure White wouldn’t be so quick to go on a rant if it wasn’t Mazzagatti.
Even if Kizer believes Mazzagatti didn’t do anything wrong, it’s the ref’s job to look out for the fighter’s safety, and it’s pretty clear Mazzagatti wasn’t doing his best in that regard.
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