UFC middleweight CB Dollaway has given his opinion on Herb Dean’s late stoppage of his fight at UFC Moscow.
UFC middleweight CB Dollaway has expressed his frustration with Herb Dean’s officiating in his fight with Khalid Murtazaliev that took place two weeks ago at UFC Moscow.
After Dollaway’s first two scheduled opponents withdrew from the contest, Murtazaliev stepped up on a week’s notice to take the fight. It proved a wise move for the Russian, dominating on the ground to pick up a TKO victory at the end of the second round.
However, the fight should have been stopped a long time before the end of the 10-minute mark, as Dollaway showed no attempt to answer the punishment from Murtazaliev, curling up in a fetal-like position on the ground. Dollaway broke his silence on Dean’s late stoppage of the fight when he spoke to MMA Fighting.
“I’ve been on the other side before, where I thought a fight got stopped too early for me. But, being on the other side now, it’s like — it’s a rough job being a ref, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, you’re there to protect us, and I don’t know what was going on, but I don’t feel like I got protected.
“He didn’t stop the fight. Ever. Like, he was telling me to get on the stool and I didn’t even want to fight. Like, ‘Dude, I’m done.’ I was pretty out of it. I’m going to go out and take more punishment, that’s all that was going to basically happen at that point. I understand being a referee’s a tough job, we all make mistakes in life. It just sucks when it’s you.”
It’s a been a tough year for Dollaway. His first fight this year was a DQ win against Hector Lombard in March after the Cuban landed a strike after the bell that dropped Dollaway, causing the fight to be called off. The 35-year-old has stated he intends to make the move back up to 205-pounds for his next fight.
“I’m not making enough money to kill myself to get down to 185. I’m 35 years old, I’ve been doing this 10 years, my body just can’t recover. When I was 25 or 28, that cut, you could bounce back from. But I’m already 220 pounds, so do the math, that’s not a fun cut. So yeah, I’d rather fight at 205 and enjoy what I do, not almost die during fight week in the weight cut, and then possibly in the fight not almost die.”