If a botched call is generally known as a “Mazzagati,” then this referee just earned the Pornstache Lifetime Achievement Award for this epic flub. Passed along to us by none other than KarmaAteMyCat, the above video depicts what may be the worst referee blunder in the history of MMA. Sound impossible? Prepare to have your puny minds blown.
The event was Warrior Nation XFA III. The day was April 20th. In a preliminary 135 lb contest, Justin Kristie made his amateur debut against fellow rookie David Baxter. You can watch most of the first round if you’d like, but we recommend that you skip to the 4:13 mark, where, with ten seconds remaining, Kristie locks in a tight triangle. Baxter either throws some open palm strikes, or in our opinion, appears to tap with five seconds remaining. The ref doesn’t react, a pattern that will become disturbingly apparent in the very near future, so Kristie promptly chokes Baxter the fuck out as the bell sounds.
This is where things take a turn into the truly bizarre.
Kristie immediately celebrates upon seeing that Baxter is without a doubt in the world unconscious, a sentiment that is also picked up by a few of his cornermen and any audience member without cataracts. Meanwhile, the referee halfheartedly attempts to hold Baxter down as he begins to seizure, staring at him with the ineptitude and helplessness of a slutty white female in a horror movie, before several physicians make their way into the ring.
After simply staring down at Baxter’s unconscious body for a few moments, the officials quickly scatter and allow Baxter’s cornermen to his side, realizing that the guys in Tapout shirts are far more trained to deal with the situation at hand than they are. By the time the one-minute warning whistle has been blown, Baxter has fully regained consciousness, and despite the fact that he has spent the last minute in a pile on the mat, is allowed to continue.
“How bout that, ladies and gentlemen? We’re going to see a round 2,” remarks the strip club DJ, which somehow doesn’t cause everyone in Kristie’s corner to launch into a full-on Joe Mikulik meltdown. Apparently this promotion follows the Chael Sonnen “If you tap out you only lose the round” school of logic. That, or the original referee and ringside physicians were replaced by Frank Drebin and his crew of cohorts in an undercover effort to catch a local con man or purse snatcher.
On the off chance that you haven’t already rage-fired your computer into a wall, here comes the craziest part yet. Re-energized by his temporary crossover into the afterlife, Baxter actually manages to rally in the second round and score a TKO victory over his gassed and flabbergasted opponent. Why Kristie wasn’t given the same opportunity to recover for the third round is beyond us. In either case, this referee, along with the “physicians” at ringside who have not yet acquired the proper medical schooling to recognize when someone is clearly unconscious, should not only be rebuked for their actions, they should be barred from ever stepping foot in an MMA event in Massachusetts for the rest of their natural lives. Hell, their children shouldn’t even be allowed near an MMA event for this disastrous call.
We’re not going to treat you like the idiots involved in the above fiasco, but suffice it to say, allowing a fighter to compete after he has just been choked out is insanely dangerous bordering on criminal. The fact that Baxter managed to use the incompetency of the crew who is supposed to be protecting him to his advantage is a moot point.
To sum our feelings up, we award this referee no points, and may God have mercy on his soul.
