UFC Vegas 101 brought fight fans the first UFC card of 2025 and with that came the first set of highlight reel finishes, entertaining contests and yes, controversial refereeing decisions. The middleweight clash between Roman Kopylov and Chris Curtis earned the first fight of the night bonus of the year following their back-and-forth encounter on the main card.
What the fight will likely be remembered for however is the call that Mark Smith made to wave the fight off with just one second left on the clock. Kopylov landed a head kick that knocked Curtis off balance but with the clock running down and his opponent on the floor, the Russian decided to back away rather than chasing his opponent to the ground to land more strikes.
Despite the fact that Curtis wasn’t in danger of taking any more damage, Smith stepped in and the stoppage was heavily disputed by “The Action Man” in the immediate aftermath. It’s also of note that the fight was tied at 19-19 across all three scorecards heading into the third round which would have been won by Kopylov if the fight had continued for one more second.
Curtis has since posted a statement on social media where he seemed less frustrated at the ending of the fight though he was still disappointed to have not secured the victory. Kopylov, on the other hand, believes that the official made the right decision, stating in his post-fight press conference that he chose not to follow-up with any more strikes because it wasn’t neccesary and that he’s open to the idea of a rematch if that’s what people want.
In a post on social media, UFC flyweight Charles Johnson criticized Smith by questioning the consistency of his decision making.
“Mark smith has got to be the lowest graded ref on roster. Constantly interjects himself and only thing consistent with calls is his inconsistency”
Some of the replies underneath Johnson’s post made reference to one of his previous fights which was refereed by Smith. In his fight with Sumudaerji last October, he believed that the fight should have been stopped but Smith didn’t step in and it ended up going the distance.
Like I said , su mudaerji was face to floor hands over head 4-5 seconds and he didn’t stop it, but he stops that lol
— Charles "InnerG" Johnson (@innerGmma_ufc) January 12, 2025
Walked him down and THREW
@InnerGMMA_UFC | #UFCVegas99 pic.twitter.com/Px838FH3c9
— UFC (@ufc) October 20, 2024
