UFC president Dana White has always had a love-hate relationship with referee Steve Mazzagatti. Actually that’s not true—it’s always been hate.Time and time again, we’ve heard White pan the veteran referee on his skills, or lack…
UFC president Dana White has always had a love-hate relationship with referee Steve Mazzagatti. Actually that’s not true—it’s always been hate.
Time and time again, we’ve heard White pan the veteran referee on his skills, or lack thereof, when it comes to holding down the action in the cage.
While a lot of White’s criticism toward Mazzagatti stems from the controversial disqualification of Jon Jones for the use of illegal elbows—giving the current light heavyweight champ the only blemish on his record—the most recent criticism of the referee was for his disregard for fighter safety, particularly in regards to Jon Fitch.
Fitch, recently departed from the UFC, was beaten soundly in 41 seconds at the hands of Josh Burkman via guillotine choke, late on Friday evening at WSOF 3.
Lost in the commotion of the raucous crowd and the fight-ending call from the commentary team of Todd Harris and BasRutten was the improper referee procedure executed by Mazzagatti.
White immediately lashed out on Twitter:
So did MFC president Mark Pavelich:
He also started a trend on Twitter: #Mazzagattineedstogo
Mazzagatti did not stop the action until Burkman himself released the fight-ending guillotine choke, rolled the unconscious Fitch onto his back and stood up over him. This was an egregious error in judgment of the highest degree.
It is the referee’s responsibility to recognize the severity of the submission attempt, put himself into position to get the best visual of the action unfolding, check the fighters’ body language and, if needed, give verbal warnings to see if the fighter is OK and is still defending the choke—which in this fight was a deeply applied guillotine choke.
If there is no response, the referee is then required to be proactive, physically check a fighter and, if necessary, call a stop to the fight and either tell the fighter applying the submission to release the choke or break the hold himself.
Mazzagatti took none of the aforementioned steps. He didn’t put himself into proper position, follow necessary protocol or look after the safety of Fitch. Credit must be given to Burkman for having the class and professionalism to release the choke and not do further damage to Fitch. However, no fighter should ever have to stop a fight before a referee does; Burkman did Mazzagatti’s job for him.
No referee should ever make this kind of mistake, especially a seasoned official with the experience level of Mazzagatti. He needs to be held accountable, and some type of disciplinary measure needs to take place before something serious occurs. What if Burkman never let go?
White and Pavelich are scared to have him referee on their fight cards, and for good reason. After seeing what happened at WSOF 3, you cannot argue with them.
Does Mazzagatti need to go? Let Bleacher Report know in the comments below.
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
The fight was was a rematch of the pair’s 2006 UFC bout, which Fitch won via rear naked choke. Burkman was released by the UFC in 2008 but since that time has been on a tear.
After a few moments of feeling one another out, Fitch pressed forward with punches but got caught, first by a short right hand and then a left hook by Burkman. Fitch stumbled and then fell to the floor.
Burkman pounced and locked up a guillotine choke on Fitch, rising back to his own feet to crank on the neck. Fitch, his neck still locked to the right side of Burkman’s torso in the choke hold, worked for a take down instead of immediately defending the submission.
Fitch got Burkman to his back but the underdog held on to the guillotine choke from his half guard. A moment later, Fitch went limp, Burkman let go of his prone body and stood over the former number one title contender with his arms raised in the air.
Check out the stunning video above. What do you say, nation? Does beating a top ten fighter like Fitch now thrust Burkman into the global welterweight top ten rankings?
Should Burkman get a call back to the UFC? Where does Fitch go from here?
Interview with Burkman about the huge win after the jump.
The fight was was a rematch of the pair’s 2006 UFC bout, which Fitch won via rear naked choke. Burkman was released by the UFC in 2008 but since that time has been on a tear.
After a few moments of feeling one another out, Fitch pressed forward with punches but got caught, first by a short right hand and then a left hook by Burkman. Fitch stumbled and then fell to the floor.
Burkman pounced and locked up a guillotine choke on Fitch, rising back to his own feet to crank on the neck. Fitch, his neck still locked to the right side of Burkman’s torso in the choke hold, worked for a take down instead of immediately defending the submission.
Fitch got Burkman to his back but the underdog held on to the guillotine choke from his half guard. A moment later, Fitch went limp, Burkman let go of his prone body and stood over the former number one title contender with his arms raised in the air.
Check out the stunning video above. What do you say, nation? Does beating a top ten fighter like Fitch now thrust Burkman into the global welterweight top ten rankings?
Should Burkman get a call back to the UFC? Where does Fitch go from here?
Interview with Burkman about the huge win after the jump.
There were no smiley faces or clever one-liners from Dana White after watching Jon Fitch get choked unconscious by Josh Burkman at World Series of Fighting 3.Instead, the UFC President went after referee Steve Mazzagatti for his questionable officiatin…
There were no smiley faces or clever one-liners from Dana White after watching Jon Fitch get choked unconscious by Josh Burkman at World Series of Fighting 3.
Instead, the UFC President went after referee Steve Mazzagatti for his questionable officiating in a couple of posts on Twitter.
Fitch came out aggressive on the feet early on in the bout, but Burkman stood his ground and dropped the former UFC contender with a pair of hooks. While scrambling for his senses, Fitch made a desperate attempt at a takedown, but the telegraphed shot played right into the hands of Burkman, who immediately countered with an airtight guillotine choke.
After Fitch went limp, Burkman released the hold and began to celebrate before Mazzagatti even realized the fight was over. The official time of the stoppage was 41 seconds into the first round.
White has gone on record several times in expressing his dissatisfaction with the Nevada State Athletic Commission for allowing Mazzagatti to continue officiating fights. The frustration for White goes all the way back to a 2009 appearance on the Opie & Anthony Show, via MMAFighting.com, where he called Mazzagatti the “worst ref in the history of any fight business.”
It’s tough to argue with White after watching the Fitch and Burkman bout. Thankfully, Burkman showed tremendous class and great sportsmanship in releasing the hold as soon as Fitch went unconscious.
This was Fitch’s first fight back since being cut from the UFC back in February. In the rearview, the UFC’s decision to part ways with Fitch doesn’t look nearly as bad considering he is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, but the initial reaction to the release was shock and disappointment that the promotion would be so eager to sever ties with the perennial welterweight contender.
White swears there are no hard feelings for Fitch, but recently the two sides have remained locked in a bitter public debate over fighter pay.
Unfortunately for Fitch, any hope of a pay raise was likely left plastered on the canvas Friday night.
Regularly criticized and inextinguishably fearless—Jon Fitch has embraced the grind unlike any other fighter. But tonight the grind was halted, as Fitch was submitted for the first time since his MMA debut back in 2002.Josh Burkman entered t…
Regularly criticized and inextinguishably fearless—Jon Fitch has embraced the grind unlike any other fighter.
But tonight the grind was halted, as Fitch was submitted for the first time since his MMA debut back in 2002.
Josh Burkman entered the biggest fight of his life (a rematch seven years in the making) on a four-fight wining streak (including victories over UFC veterans Aaron Simpson and Gerald Harris), and did not miss out on the opportunity to redeem himself.
Burkman didn’t just beat one of the greatest welterweights in MMA history, he did what former ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion Demian Maia could not—submitting arguably the best submission-resistance fighter in the entire world of mixed martial arts.
So will the MMA community rejoice in the fall of one of their most hated fighters?
Probably.
But does that compromise the 13-1 start to Fitch’s UFC career, who has grinded grown men into powder fight after fight?
Does that invalidate the homage to absolutely legendary durability that is going over ten years without a submission loss?
Does such witless behavior and prejudice take even remotely anything away from Jon Fitch’s extraordinary career and the string of almost unmatched dominance he once held?
Jon Fitch was looking to bounce back in his first fight since being released by the UFC at World Series of Fighting 3; instead, he suffered one of the worst losses of his career Friday night in Las Vegas.Fitch was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman via…
Jon Fitch was looking to bounce back in his first fight since being released by the UFC at World Series of Fighting 3; instead, he suffered one of the worst losses of his career Friday night in Las Vegas.
Fitch was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman via guillotine choke at the 41-second mark of the opening round of the main event.
The AKA fighter got knocked down after getting clipped by a right hand. From there, Burkman landed a couple of left hands during the scramble and then stood up and secured the guillotine choke. Fitch grabbed a single and both fighters went to the mat.
Fitch was then choked unconscious inside of Burkman’s half-guard. Burkman had to release the choke and roll the unconscious Fitch over on his back and stand over him triumphantly, before referee Steve Mazzagatti called a halt to the action.
“I went for the lift instead of fighting the choke,” Fitch said to Joey Varner in the post-fight interview.
“I got a little over confident with my choke defense,” he admitted. “I was going to try and slam him but he locked it in too tight. Mistake on my part, I should’ve fought the choke right away.”
A devastating loss for Fitch, and the first time he has ever lost back-to-back fights in his career. He is now 1-3 in his last three fights.
He made a push to get a rubber match against Burkman. “Let’s do it again,” Fitch said. “Let’s do it for five, and let’s do it for that belt.”
If the 35-year-old welterweight thinks he is getting a title shot after that performance, he is sadly mistaken.
The WSOF currently has no belts. However, Fitch will have to go back to the drawing board if he wants to compete for one.
It is clear after the past few performances that Fitch is clearly on the down side of his career. It remains to be seen if he has any good fights left to offer.
He will have to take some time to regroup after the embarrassing defeat. As to who the WSOF matches him up against, it’s anybody’s guess.
A matchup against Aaron Simpson or Tyson Steele makes sense.
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
With a veritable buffet of fights going down this weekend in UFC 161 and World Series of Fighting 3, we here at CagePotato decided to dust off a rivalry older than Paraguay vs. Uruguay in attempt to break it all down. CP staff writers Jared Jones and Seth Falvo were more than willing to step up to the plate (and over the bones of their past victims) to wage war on a variety of topics relating to this weekend’s action, so read on and let us know how you think either event will play out in the comments section.
Jared: Call me crazy, but I’m taking the under here. Specifically, 4. As Henderson recently stated, Evans has looked a little “shy” on the feet ever since he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida in the midst of delivering one epic tongue-lashing at UFC 98. My prediction is that this fight goes down in a similar, albeit less dominating fashion as Evans vs. Davis. Rashad was able to nail 3 takedowns in that fight, and that was against a guy he was absolutely eating up in the standup department.
A fear of Henderson’s patented H-Bomb is going to result in a Rashad Evans who is timid on the feet (like he was against Lil’ Nog) and who will look to wear out his older foe with his superior speed until Hendo tires out around the 3 minute mark of the second round. It is then when Rashad will truly start looking to impose his will on the ex-Strikeforce champ in the form of the takedown. Truthfully, I hope it doesn’t ever come to that, as I am using the precedent set forth by Vitor Belfort to predict that Hendo lands a TRT-fueled flying knee to Evans’ dome as he shoots for his first takedown.
With a veritable buffet of fights going down this weekend in UFC 161 and World Series of Fighting 3, we here at CagePotato decided to dust off a rivalry older than Paraguay vs. Uruguay in attempt to break it all down. CP staff writers Jared Jones and Seth Falvo were more than willing to step up to the plate (and over the bones of their past victims) to wage war on a variety of topics relating to this weekend’s action, so read on and let us know how you think either event will play out in the comments section.
Jared: Call me crazy, but I’m taking the under here. Specifically, 4. As Henderson recently stated, Evans has looked a little “shy” on the feet ever since he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida in the midst of delivering one epic tongue-lashing at UFC 98. My prediction is that this fight goes down in a similar, albeit less dominating fashion as Evans vs. Davis. Rashad was able to nail 3 takedowns in that fight, and that was against a guy he was absolutely eating up in the standup department.
A fear of Henderson’s patented H-Bomb is going to result in a Rashad Evans who is timid on the feet (like he was against Lil’ Nog) and who will look to wear out his older foe with his superior speed until Hendo tires out around the 3 minute mark of the second round. It is then when Rashad will truly start looking to impose his will on the ex-Strikeforce champ in the form of the takedown. Truthfully, I hope it doesn’t ever come to that, as I am using the precedent set forth by Vitor Belfort to predict that Hendo lands a TRT-fueled flying knee to Evans’ dome as he shoots for his first takedown.
To answer your other question: Yes, the “50 takedowns” claim is probably the weakest hook I’ve heard in quite some time – like saying that you’re “going to attempt 100 submissions on this chump before the final bell.” Unless of course, by “takedown,” Evans means that he is going to pick Henderson up and present him to the audience like a life-sized Oscar statuette before slamming him through the mat a la Hughes vs. Trigg 2. Then I could see the appeal.
Seth: Can you even imagine how boring it would be if Evans actually did earn fifty takedowns throughout the course of a three round bout? Henderson would have to literally run into a takedown as soon as the first round begins, but then get back to his feet before Evans could mount any type of offense, only to get taken down again before landing anything himself. Steps two and three would have to repeat until the end of the round, and then the entire sequence would have to repeat for the next two rounds. Joe Rogan would have a heart attack trying to call the (lack of significant) action. “Oh, THERE’S A TAKEDOWN RIGHT THERE…now he’ll look to work for OH HENDO IS BACK UP and loo- oh wait! Rashad’s GOT THE TAKEDOWN HERE and now he’s trying to trap that OH! NICE MOVE BY HENDO! AND NOW A SCRAMBLE!”
And as far as the PPV draw goes, it’s not like it really matters. Evans and Henderson are both pretty strong PPV draws, and the rest of the main card has some very interesting, fun-looking fights. Evans could have given the fans a link to his favorite stream and this card would still break 400,000 buys. So…I give his bogus fight-hyping attempt an A for “at least it’s original?”
Which UFC 161 main-eventer should retire if he loses, and which UFC 161 fighter has the most to lose on Saturday night?
Seth: I’m glad you asked these two questions together, because my answer is the same for each one: Both of the main-eventers. The decision to book Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson for UFC 165 sends them a pretty clear message that this bout ain’t exactly for contendership — it’s to stay relevant. Both guys are coming off of losses in dreadfully forgettable fights, and making it two straight would be pretty damning at this point in their careers. Factor in how Jones already holds a convincing win over Rashad, how Hendo is pretty much unable to compete in California until further notice, how both guys made a ton of money throughout their careers — and by the way, the whole “neither guy is getting any younger” thing also deserves some recognition – and the idea of either guy attempting to drop to middleweight to rejuvenate his stagnant career just seems ridiculous. Thanks for the memories, now walk away before you’re remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Jared: Damn Seth, do you enjoy taking away men’s livelihoods? This is a tough one for me to answer, quite honestly. Fact is, either one of these guys could still put a whooping on most of the UFC’s light heavyweight division whether they win tomorrow night or not. The question we should really be asking (and you did to some degree with your final statement) is: Do we really want to witness either fighter’s slow demise? Neither Evans nor Henderson has had that Chuck Liddell string of KO losses to convince them that they can’t hang anymore, but I guess the obvious answer here would be that Henderson should retire if he loses based simply on his age.
Henderson had his shot against Jones when there were still enough of us who – whether honestly or out of some “Because PRIDE” delusion – thought he could pose a threat to the unstoppable champ. He blew it (or rather, his MCL did), and his loss to Machida wrote home the notion that Hendo probably isn’t getting anywhere near Jones before he retires. Win or lose, I say give Hendo another fight with Wanderlei Silva next and then force them both to retire. Nostalgia wins, the UFC wins, the audience in attendance wins, and two guys who have sacrificed their minds and bodies to the sport we love for umpteen years will retire on what will surely be a Fight of the Night winner.
I tried to like Reeves. I honestly tried. But he was such a stiff in the NBA, with such an undeservedly great nickname, that I just couldn’t cheer for the guy. By the time he was pushed out of the league (not that it took long), I pretty much knew that any time I saw a “Big Country” who was so much as competent at his sport – let alone good – I’d be a big fan. Then along comes Roy Nelson, with his doughy physique, mountain-man beard, and actual skills worthy of the awesome nickname. Easy call. The fact that he’s entering tomorrow night’s bout with three consecutive first-round knockouts to his name just makes it all the better.
Jared: I tend to agree with your argument that nicknames should be earned, not chosen by the fighters themselves, which makes Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley and Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo (the former of which I would have preferred been spelled using the Justin McCully Grammar Guide) seem all the more pompous. “Suga” Rashad Evans is simply too cliché and unoriginal for my taste, and you chose “Big Country,” so I’m quickly running out of options here. Oh wait, I’m not even close.
I could pick James “The James Krause” Krause if I was some “meta” hipster douchebag, but I’ll pass. “HD” is a nickname better suited for a Diaz…“The Savage,”“The Punisher” and “The Duke” are similarly uninspiring…I guess I gotta go with Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis by default. It’s somewhat original, it’s got a clever bit of wordplay involved (which is about the only thing I can praise Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia for these days), and I had a strange fascination with alligators as a child, so there it is. Being that you’ve probably lost half your family to gators down there in Cajun country, I can see how you’d be hesitant to choose hers.
UFC president Dana White has always had a love-hate relationship with referee Steve Mazzagatti. Actually that’s not true—it’s always been hate.