Marc Goddard reveals why he personally requested not to officiate Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2 and will never referee a Leon Edwards fight
UFC referee Marc Goddard recently opened up about not wanting to officiate a fight involving Leon Edwards. Additionally, Goddard revealed that he had personally asked not to referee the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
In a recent appearance on Mike Perry's Overdogs podcast, Goddard explained why he has asked to never officiate a match featuring Edwards. The UFC veteran referee clarified that he had previously trained 'Rocky' as an amateur mixed martial artist back when the fighter was just getting started.
Goddard claimed that he had purposefully refrained from refereeing any of Edwards' UFC fights due to their previous relationship to avoid any conflict of interest or suspicion of bias. He said:
''You've never seen me referee Leon Edwards in the UFC, and you never will. Why because I was Leon Edwards first coach MMA way way way back when when he was just an amateur. Again, the common sense element for me, with the link, you've never seen me referee him and you never will. We'll just keep it out of the way. I just don't want any hassle. And I don't want to be put in a predicament where I'm making a call that could go against him. So it's both ways."
Furthermore, Goddard discussed another comparable situation he encountered involving a different UFC fighter. He stated that he was not interested in officiating Adesanya vs. Pereira 2:
''When Israel Adesanya fought Alex Pereira for the second time in Miami, I specifically requested not to do that fight. I did the first fight [which Adesanya lost]. The reason I requested not to do the fight was because I was thinking about Izzy. I have reffed him since, I have reffed his fight with Sean Strickland. I was thinking of a fighter then. This was his night, it was about him.''
Check out Marc Goddard's comments below:
When Marc Goddard was criticized for officiating UFC London
Marc Goddard was highly criticized for officiating UFC London last year, where UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinal knocked out Marcin Tybura in the opening round. Many accused Goddard of stopping the fight early.
Aside from this, Goddard received a lot of flak for being a Scottish man on a UFC London card. Fans made comparisons to other sports with unbiased officials to eliminate bias. The referee wrote in response:
"I’m sorry my friend but that is a silly/unrealistic notion. Fellow country officials officiate world level sports week in week out all over the globe. Competency is key, not nationality. Oh and by the way I am not English.''