Dana White has once again voiced his anger toward Steve Mazzagatti, following The Ultimate Fighter 15 finale.
Mazzagatti has been criticised a number of times by White and fighters alike for his decisions whilst officiating. For example, in the first match between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, Mazzagatti waited longer than needed to stop the fight after Lesnar clearly tapped to Mir’s kneebar.
This is not the first time White has criticised the controversial referee, whom he had dubbed the “worst referee in…history” over a year ago.
White has now called out Mazzagatti for failing to stand Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger up during the first round of the fight in a stalemate on the ground, in which little progression from both fighters was achieved. This came after Ellenberger rocked Kampmann with a huge left hand and Kampmann was made to go into survival mode at such an early point in the fight.
A failed guillotine attempt from Kampmann slowed the offense from Ellenberger on the top, and very little action followed for the rest of the round.
Fans in attendance of this fight voiced their concerns at the lack of action, and White clearly sees why they were so upset.
White believes that Mazzagatti failing to stand the fighters up and this ultimately led to “4 mins of nothing.”
His full tweet read: “Mazzagatti the fight killer 4 mins of nothing in the ground in the first round!!! The worst ref EVER!!! Drives me NUTS”
However, some fans will side with Mazzagatti as the belief that standing the fighters up is not a good idea because it doesn’t allow the fighters to demonstrate their technical skills on the ground—an art that is often underrated in mixed martial arts as most fans (especially casual fans) prefer to watch a stand-up striking affair.
The point is, events such as these have led to severe criticism and have ultimately led to Mazzagatti being possibly the most reviled referee in the history of the sport.
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