Jason High finds himself an ex-UFC fighter just a few days after putting his hands on a referee.
UFC president Dana White told UFC.com on Tuesday that the lightweight was cut in the wake of his loss to Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday night in Albuquerque, N.M. High shoved referee Kevin Mulhall after losing to dos Anjos via second-round TKO, angered over what he believed were shots to the back of the head administered by his opponent.
“That Jason High kid got up and pushed a referee – he’s cut,” White said. “I’m going to cut him. I look at that the way [Paul] Daley put his hands on his opponent after a fight was over. You don’t ever, ever f——- touch a referee, ever. You’re done here. He’s been apologizing on Twitter, but he’s done.”
White has pulled a quick trigger on fighters in the past when instigating post-fight scuffles. The aforementioned Daley was cut after punching Josh Koscheck following their UFC 113 bout in Montreal in 2010. And Renato “Babalu” Sobral was cut after refusing to let go of a choke on David Heath at UFC 74, and never fought in the UFC again.
High apologized on Twitter for his actions. “Incredibly sorry & embarrassed for the ref incident,” High tweeted. “Will never happen again.”