5 of the most outrageous refereeing errors in UFC history
Any fighter who steps into the UFC naturally comes under tremendous pressure. However, it’s arguable that the referees officiating inside the octagon are under just as much.
It’s the job of the referee to ensure that each UFC fight is officiated fairly and safely. Unfortunately, mistakes do happen.
Matt Hamill viciously headbutts Jon Jones elbows forcing The ref to stop the fight and declaring Matt the winner. https://t.co/2J9l7Uy6XB
Worse still, some of these mistakes are so egregious that not only can they cause a fight to have an incorrect outcome, but they can also put the safety of the UFC’s fighters under threat.
With that considered, here are five times that referees have made outrageous errors in UFC fights.
#5. Yves Lavigne – Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell (UFC 96)
While early referee stoppages are obviously frustrating for the fighters involved, it’s definitely arguable that late referee stoppages are much worse. Not only can a late referee stoppage see a fighter take a needless beating, perhaps doing damage to their future career hopes, but they also make the UFC look needlessly barbaric, too.
There have been plenty of terrible late referee stoppages in UFC history. Arguably the worst came in the welterweight clash between Matt Brown and Pete Sell at UFC 96.
Not only did referee Yves Lavigne stop this fight far too late, allowing poor Sell to take a multitude of needless strikes, but to make matters worse, he appeared to change his mind midway through the clash, causing confusion for both combatants.
Realistically, the fight should’ve been over in the first minute. Brown opened up on Sell with punches, sending him crashing to the ground. It hardly came as a surprise when Lavigne appeared to step in. However, as Brown began to stop his onslaught, the Canadian official bizarrely decided to change his mind, shouting “go, go, go!” as Sell attempted to get back to his feet.
However, ‘Drago’ was clearly done and simply wilted under more strikes from Brown, who seemed stunned that the fight hadn’t been stopped. Moments later, Lavigne finally did step in, but only after Brown literally bounced Sell’s head off the mat with two more punches. It was a truly scary finish to a bizarre fight, made possible by an outrageous error from Lavigne.
Read here: Everything to know about UFC Referees