NATAL, Brazil — Steven Siler wasn’t happy with referee Wernei Cardoso, but Rony Jason doesn’t have a problem with his stoppage at UFC Fight Night 38.
Jason dropped Siler with a right hand and Siler was trying to fight back, attempting an upkick, when Cardoso stopped the fight. Despite Siler’s protests, Jason won’t question the stoppage.
“I’m just an employee,” Jason told the media after the fight. “The referees are trained to protect the fighters. It’s not up to anyone to judge if he stopped too early or too late. The same guy that criticizes him if he stopped too early will criticize if he stops it too late.”
Jason is confident that he would have got the finish even if Cardoso hasn’t stopped the fight at that moment.
“God wanted me to win,” he said. “I would have kept trying the knockout or the submission, so the win would have come one way or the other.”
Coming off a first-round loss to Jeremy Stephens, and a suspension for breaking a wall with his elbow at UFN 32, Jason, who turned 30 the day before the fight, missed his son’s birthday party to prepare for the featherweight bout.
“I had the perfect training camp,” he said. “I’m really happy, everything went perfect. Last time I was crying (after the fight), and now I’m smiling. That’s how life is for a fighter. When the technique doesn’t work, you go with the emotional. I had no Carnival, I missed my son’s birthday and my own birthday.”
The Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner doesn’t want rest, and plans to ask for a fight at the Fight Night card in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 31.
“I want to fight at TUF Brazil 3 finale card,” Jason said. “I want to fight again (on the same card of) Wanderlei Silva. And for those who doubted me, I’m back.”