Both Dana White and Jalin Turner refuse to criticize referee Kerry Hatley too harshly despite horrible late stoppage in Bobby Green fight
Dana White has not been shy about his willingness to criticize referees when they make errors in the octagon. Following a horrendously late stoppage in Jalin Turner's first-round knockout victory over Bobby Green at UFC Austin, the promotional frontman criticized the stoppage. However, he held back from being too harsh on Kerry Hatley.
Speaking at the UFC on ESPN 52 post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO stated:
"One of the worst [stoppages] I've ever seen... The difference is we’ve had some refs say some dumb s**t in the past like, 'Oh, I allowed her to be a warrior tonight' and goofy s**t like that. He knows that he made a mistake tonight and he does not feel good about it so, yeah, it’s unfortunate... Definitely a bad stoppage."
Check out Dana White's comments on Kerry Hatley's late stoppage below:
Hatley allowed Green to take approximately 20 unanswered punches to his head while he did not appear to be defending and was likely unconscious. The veteran referee faced plenty of backlash from fighters and fans as he failed to protect 'King' by stopping the bout. UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, both of whom were a part of the UFC Austin commentary team, were critical of the late stoppage.
Jalin Turner follows Dana White's lead, stops short of blasting Kerry Hatley
While Kerry Hatley has faced plenty of backlash for his late stoppage at UFC on ESPN 52, Jalin Turner joined Dana White in stopping short of blasting him. Speaking at the post-fight press conference following his impressive first-round knockout victory against Bobby Green, 'The Tarantula' stated:
"I don’t know, bro. I don’t know what to call it. He just waited until Bobby was out. Like, Bobby’s tough. Bobby’s a really tough fighter, so when I was punching him, he was defending, he was moving, he was still a bit coherent and I was like, dang."
The No.12-ranked lightweight continued:
"I was like, maybe this should be stopped, maybe not, and I’m not going to stop until you pull me off because it’s him or me, and if he would’ve gotten his bearings about him, he could’ve gotten back on top or something crazy. So it is what it is. He was healthy, he was coherent, he was good after, we had good words, so I’m happy he was in good health, decent health."
Check out Jalin Turner's comments on the late referee stoppage below:
In his octagon interview immediately following the fight, Turner acknowledged that it didn't feel good knocking Green out. 'King' appears to have avoided serious injury.