Author: Anton Tabuena

Frank Collazo was responsible for one of the worst stoppages in MMA history.

Headlining Fury FC 76 was a bout between Edgar Chairez and Gianni Vazquez at flyweight. DWCS vet Chairez took home a quality victory to improve to 9-4, but it was the horrible and negligent officiating from referee Frank Collazo that stole all the attention.

In the fourth stanza of their main event bout, Vasquez got caught in a triangle choke and seemed to go limp and unconscious at the 3:34 mark of the round. Instead of stopping the fight and awarding Chairez the victory, the referee dangerously just allowed him to continue getting choked for a full 20 seconds. Everyone in the arena seemed to know he was out, with commentators and other people ringside just screaming “he’s out!!” over and over, but the referee just ignored them.

With the fight disturbingly not being called off, Chairez just decided to switch to an armbar, which the referee insanely allows him to apply to a clearly unconscious fighter. Everyone started screaming “Frank, he’s done! He’s done!” but referee Collazo just let it all continue. Vasquez eventually seemed to slowly regain consciousness right as his arm is being completely bent the other way, but guess what… the referee still doesn’t stop it!

“What are you doing?!? It’s done!!!” the commentators repeatedly screamed at the referee.

A seemingly confused Vasquez looked to have tapped with his leg as well as he slowly regained consciousness, but the referee still let it continue longer. A few more seconds and Vasquez uses his arm to tap again, and only then did the grossly incompetent referee to stop the contest.

To sum it up, referee Frank Collazo let an obviously unconscious fighter to get choked for 20 seconds, and then allowed the still unconscious fighter to get armbarred and injured for another 20 seconds.

Watch the seriously dangerous and disturbing scene produced by incompetent and irresponsible officiating from Collazo, courtesy of Caposa.

According to the commentators, the ringside physician was also screaming from outside the cage asking the referee to stop the fight.

Vasquez corner should’ve stepped in as well, but the brunt of the blame easily falls on the negligence Collazo showed as the referee in charge. The stoppage was about 40 seconds too late. And despite everyone repeatedly screaming at him, it was only when Vasquez fully woke up and was able to tap — possibly twice — due to his already injured arm that Collazo stopped the fight.

He not only unnecessarily caused an arm injury, he also risked serious health issues and death with the lack of blood to the brain for that long. It’s easily one of the worst officiating in MMA history, and Collazo clearly should not be able to keep his job after this.

“It’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in my life in MMA,” the broadcast booth is heard saying about the officiating. “I’m still stunned right now. My heart is still beating (fast), I thought we were about to see the something very horrible.”

Fortunately, Vasquez seemed to have avoided the worst as he was able to regain consciousness and eventually stand up on his own accord during the official decision. His arm seems to have been badly injured though, despite it being a completely avoidable situation.

Narrator: He was.

When it comes to interesting albeit pointless “GOAT” debates in sports, people’s criteria are vastly different so there’s just a multitude of things that can be validly argued. I’m not sure we can say the same about Joe Rogan’s recent head-scratching claims about Georges St-Pierre though.

The longtime UFC commentator argued that mixed martial arts has already evolved so much that the legendary two-division champion isn’t even on the same level of Kamaru Usman’s recent opponents.

“I just think the level of competition he faced is higher. GSP was so good he raised the bar,” Rogan said on his podcast (via BJPenn.com). “But, you look at GSP’s victories. He beat some very good guys, but I think the guys Kamaru Usman beat — Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley — I think they are better.”

Even his country singer guest in Luke Combs thought this claim was worth questioning. But as the musician checked if he really believed that Masvidal is better than prime GSP, Rogan only doubled down with a bizarre response.

“Yeah,” Rogan responded. “I think if Masvidal was around at that time he would be dangerous for everybody, I think he is on another level. I think everyone is on another level.

“The Masvidal that knocked out Ben Askren, that was one of the craftiest moves that anyone has ever done. He went sideways and ran straight at him and Askren’s instincts kicked in and he kneed him into the dark lands. Just one shot, boom, into the shadow realm. Masvidal, I mean he knocked out Yves Edwards with a f—g head kick back in the day. He is a f—g assassin. Masvidal is a gangster.”

MMA as a whole is evolving and getting better, but that’s probably the only thing Rogan is right about here. No disrespect to Masvidal, who has always been a fun and talented fighter, but Rogan’s claims are hilariously false and goes way beyond recency bias.

The most obvious thing to point out is that Masvidal was around at that time, and if anyone was “better” and “on another level,” it’s certainly not him.

St-Pierre and Masvidal made their MMA debuts just a year apart in 2002 and 2003. They’ve also had roughly the same amount of fights (23 and 26) by 2010, but while St-Pierre was already on his ninth UFC title fight, Masvidal was getting TKO’d by Rodrigo Damm in Sengoku and getting inverted triangled by Toby Imada in Bellator.

St-Pierre and Masvidal then spent three years together under Zuffa, where one was adding to his incredible championship resume, and the other was losing to the likes of Gilbert Melendez and Rustam Khabilov.

Seemingly proving that he was way ahead of his time, St-Pierre also returned to competition four years later and won the belt on a higher division.

And if a five second KO win is an argument for Masvidal, it’s worth pointing out how Askren — who spent years as Bellator champ during GSP’s reign — is the antithesis of a “modern MMA fighter.” He’s a great wrestler, but the complete absence of striking ability was more of a throwback to MMA before GSP’s championship run even.

GSP and Masvidal are close in age and debuts, with a similar amount of fights during well over a decade of career overlap between them. He deserves praise for longevity and good branding after his iconic KO, but Masvidal definitely isn’t some “new age fighter.” They’re both from the same era, with Masvidal being around during GSP’s entire title reign.

I understand being more detached from MMA since getting that $100M Spotify deal, but Rogan should know this. He was literally there when it all happened.

Narrator: He was.

When it comes to interesting albeit pointless “GOAT” debates in sports, people’s criteria are vastly different so there’s just a multitude of things that can be validly argued. I’m not sure we can say the same about Joe Rogan’s recent head-scratching claims about Georges St-Pierre though.

The longtime UFC commentator argued that mixed martial arts has already evolved so much that the legendary two-division champion isn’t even on the same level of Kamaru Usman’s recent opponents.

“I just think the level of competition he faced is higher. GSP was so good he raised the bar,” Rogan said on his podcast (via BJPenn.com). “But, you look at GSP’s victories. He beat some very good guys, but I think the guys Kamaru Usman beat — Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley — I think they are better.”

Even his country singer guest in Luke Combs thought this claim was worth questioning. But as the musician checked if he really believed that Masvidal is better than prime GSP, Rogan only doubled down with a bizarre response.

“Yeah,” Rogan responded. “I think if Masvidal was around at that time he would be dangerous for everybody, I think he is on another level. I think everyone is on another level.

“The Masvidal that knocked out Ben Askren, that was one of the craftiest moves that anyone has ever done. He went sideways and ran straight at him and Askren’s instincts kicked in and he kneed him into the dark lands. Just one shot, boom, into the shadow realm. Masvidal, I mean he knocked out Yves Edwards with a f—g head kick back in the day. He is a f—g assassin. Masvidal is a gangster.”

MMA as a whole is evolving and getting better, but that’s probably the only thing Rogan is right about here. No disrespect to Masvidal, who has always been a fun and talented fighter, but Rogan’s claims are hilariously false and goes way beyond recency bias.

The most obvious thing to point out is that Masvidal was around at that time, and if anyone was “better” and “on another level,” it’s certainly not him.

St-Pierre and Masvidal made their MMA debuts just a year apart in 2002 and 2003. They’ve also had roughly the same amount of fights (23 and 26) by 2010, but while St-Pierre was already on his ninth UFC title fight, Masvidal was getting TKO’d by Rodrigo Damm in Sengoku and getting inverted triangled by Toby Imada in Bellator.

St-Pierre and Masvidal then spent three years together under Zuffa, where one was adding to his incredible championship resume, and the other was losing to the likes of Gilbert Melendez and Rustam Khabilov.

Seemingly proving that he was way ahead of his time, St-Pierre also returned to competition four years later and won the belt on a higher division.

And if a five second KO win is an argument for Masvidal, it’s worth pointing out how Askren — who spent years as Bellator champ during GSP’s reign — is the antithesis of a “modern MMA fighter.” He’s a great wrestler, but the complete absence of striking ability was more of a throwback to MMA before GSP’s championship run even.

GSP and Masvidal are close in age and debuts, with a similar amount of fights during well over a decade of career overlap between them. He deserves praise for longevity and good branding after his iconic KO, but Masvidal definitely isn’t some “new age fighter.” They’re both from the same era, with Masvidal being around during GSP’s entire title reign.

I understand being more detached from MMA since getting that $100M Spotify deal, but Rogan should know this. He was literally there when it all happened.

Fight Circus keeps embracing the madness.

It seems fitting that Fight Circus’s next event will happen on April Fool’s Day.

Mixed Martial Arts has a long history of freakshow fights that are more spectacle than sport. In recent years, Thailand’s Full Metal Dojo has not only leaned heavily on that aspect for their Fight Circus brand, they have fully embraced it.

On their next offering on April 1st, they’re reaching back into that JMMA history by bringing in two PRIDE vets in Rampage Jackson and Bob Sapp. Interestingly enough, the pair won’t be in MMA matches or even competing against each other — I guess that would be too basic. Fight Circus got their biggest name star ever, and decided to crank up the weirdness and instead put the pair of vets together, quite literally.

Rampage and Sapp will be tied together and will compete in a Siamese boxing match. Their opponents? Fight Circus promoter Jon Nutt will return to the ring, and will be joined by (err, to?) Bangtao coach Andrew Wood.

Apart from the headliners, Bloody Elbow has also learned about the rest of the madness and festivities Fight Circus has planned for their event in Phuket.

According to promotion officials, the co-main event will be Fight Circus’ first female 2 vs 1 match up, with Lethwei champion Souris Manfredi taking on two Thai fighters.

As Bloody Elbow has learned, the promotion will also debut another insane concept called “the Musical Chairs of Death,” where six contestants play the traditional party game in order to determine three match ups and the type of fights they’ll compete in.

The winner will be able to pick his opponent, who in turn will be the one to choose the discipline they’ll compete in. It’ll be curious to see if this becomes a more traditional fight, or if the promotion’s crazier rulesets would be utilized, such as spinning shit only, kicks only, or only legs vs only arms.

Two of the odd men out from Musical Chairs will then compete in Blindfold Muay Thai, while the remaining two will be in a 2 vs 1 match up against a bigger opponent.

The event will happen at the Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket, Thailand, and will feature other oddities such as “Human Piñata,” Ring girl tug of war, and Grab Driver vs Win Driver. The current planned line up is as follows:

Fight Circus 6 fight card:

• Superheavyweight Siamese Twins Boxing: Quinton Jackson and Bob Sapp vs Jon Nutt and Andrew Wood
• 2 vs 1: Souris Manfredi vs Run THC (Indica & Sativa)
• Human Piñata: Steve Panda Banks “with a sack full of money and prizes” vs Petzilla and five others.
• White Collar Brawl – Road Rage Edition: Grab Motorbike Driver vs Win Motorbike Driver
• Ring Girl 3 vs 3 Tug of War
• Wheel of Violence: Kushal Vyas vs Joel Fratello
• Musical Chairs of Death:

Blindfold Muay Thai: Musical Chairs odd men out

2 vs 1: Walter John Veale vs Two remaining Musical Chairs participants.

Dealer’s Choice: Musical Chairs winner chooses opponent, opponent chooses discipline.

• Old School MMA, 1×10 minute round: Kyoken Tampiyanan vs Campbell Symes
• Slap fight: Bruno Barone vs Peter Haelewyn

Conor McGregor went off on USADA after their recent comments.

Conor McGregor has not yet returned to the USADA testing pool, despite supposedly being penciled in for a match against Michael Chandler, who he is coaching against in the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter.

When recently asked about his plans to return to the testing pool, the former two division champion said he’s not “rushing” it but expects that he’ll only need to pass two tests and can return quickly.

McGregor is seemingly expecting that the UFC would give him an exception as to bypass USADA’s six month testing rule before he can return, but the anti-doping agency has since stated that they don’t want that to happen.

“We do not currently have a meeting set with Conor and, as of today, we have not received notice of his coming out of retirement to compete,” USADA’s announced (full statement here).

“While the rules permit the UFC to make an exception to the six-month rule in exceptional circumstances, when the strict application of the rule would be manifestly unfair to the athlete, our position, which we have made clear, is that Conor should be in the testing pool for the full six-month period.”

This statement seems to have set off McGregor who went off on USADA on social media, calling them a “garbage” organization.

“Usada is going in the bin,” McGregor wrote in tweets that have since been deleted (HT: MMA Mania). “This is my issue. I’ve not lied once. Nor have I tested positive. Ever. I have over 70 clean tests under this program, yet they are consistently coming out after I speak in a manner that makes it seem I am lying. It’s ridiculous. F—k [USADA]. You are in The Bin.

“Over 70 clean tests. Never violated once. I will not be scapegoated by this garbage organization. You are not the be all end all in this equation usada.”

“Oh, USADA,” he sang in a voice tweet. “You came and you gave without taking, but I sent you away. Oh, USADA. You’re in the bin, yeah.”

Late in 2022, McGregor said he wanted USADA’s PED rules changed, and seemingly admitted to using banned substances to “heal” as he left the testing pool.

According to the USADA database, McGregor was last tested in the third quarter of 2021. The former champion has never failed a drug test in his career.

“Don’t say that on your interview!”

There are a lot of things that get said in the Octagon that don’t make it to the actual UFC broadcast.

Fights get uploaded to the UFC Fight Pass library without commercial breaks though, and sometimes it captures interesting moments that most audiences don’t get to see. While browsing those archives, Twitter user @DovySimuMMA was able to notice one such moment between Bruce Buffer and Danish UFC lightweight Damir Hadzovic.

Following his last TKO win back at UFC Fight Night 145, Hadzovic’s opponent Polo Reyes was hurt remained on the ground for an extended period. Seemingly feeling bad about the damage he dealt to his opponent, Hadzovic was seen approaching Buffer while they were on commercial break.

“They don’t pay us enough to do this shit,” Hadzovic was heard whispering to Buffer.

“I know, I know, I know,” the longtime UFC announcer responded. “When you see somebody like this…”

Buffer was then heard calling Hadzovic back. “Just, don’t say that in your interview, okay?”

Hadzovic acknowledged him, and said he won’t do that as he wants to receive a post-fight bonus.

“There you go,” Buffer responded. “I hope you get it.”

Prior to returning from commercial break, Buffer was also heard on the UFC Fight Pass broadcast directing Hadzovic and the referee to “get away from that, I don’t want them to see.”

Buffer was pointing at Reyes, who was still on the ground getting attended to.

“TKO right?” Buffer double checked before the announcement.

“TKO indeed, sir,” the referee responded.

On his post-fight interview, Hadzovic did not mention fighter pay, but alluded to feeling bad about hurting his opponent. He said there was mutual respect and he had “no animosity” towards Reyes, but just wanted to put on a show for the fans.

He did not get a post-fight bonus that night.

Hadzovic has fought four more times since then, now holding a 4-5 UFC record and 14-7 overall.