Dana White Sick Of Refs ‘F-king Up’ And ‘Stealing Fights’

UFC’s president took to social media to complain after Danny Roberts vs. Claudio Silva ended with a controversial stoppage.

UFC Fight Night 147: “Till vs. Masvidal” on ESPN+ went down on Saturday night from O2 Arena in London, England, and what would a mixed martial arts (MMA) event be without a little controversy involving the in-ring officials? The most egregious call of the night definitely went to Kevin Sataki for stopping a fight just as Danny Roberts was escaping an armbar from Claudio Silva.

Sataki’s reasoning? Roberts’ grunts in the moment constituted a verbal submission.

You can watch the finish right here and see how upset Danny Roberts was with the call.

”When the ref stopped that, I was already out of that armbar,” Roberts told Dan Hardy during his post-fight interview. “I had already transitioned to the other side, and I was OK. Yeah, I made noise, I might have grunted, it hurt. But, I was ready to come out and carry on to the bitter end and the end of the third round. We had him finished, I wasn’t done. I’m just gutted that it stopped when it did.”

UFC President Dana White agreed with Roberts’ sentiment, releasing an Instagram post supporting his fighter.

”Kills me when these refs F**K UP and steal such a great fight and opportunity from the not just the fighters but the fans!!!!!” White wrote. “@danhotchocolate SO SORRY!!!!!”

You can tell White’s mind is still on the big Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler fight from a few weeks ago at UFC 235. In that case, Herb Dean stopped their fight after thinking Lawler had been choked unconscious. A very not unconscious Lawler protested, and afterward White said he wanted to set up an immediate rematch to make things right. So … how about Danny Roberts vs. Claudio Silva 2?

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