Refereeing blunders: 5 instances the UFC officials had a howler
In the UFC’s octagon, the role of the referee is hugely important. At times, though, even MMA’s best referees make errors. Over the years, we’ve seen some truly monumental refereeing mistakes in the UFC, with the officials sometimes changing the trajectory of a fight entirely.
Sure, it’s true that these referees are only human and are prone to errors, just like anyone. In an often-dangerous sport like MMA, though, they must get things right – which is why it’s jarring when this doesn’t happen.
With this in mind, here are five times that the UFC’s officials had a howler.
#5. Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns – UFC Fight Night 14 (Steve Mazzagatti)
During his lengthy tenure as a UFC official, Steve Mazzagatti unfortunately gained the reputation of being one of MMA’s most controversial referees. Dana White, in particular, labeled him “dangerous” on more than one occasion due to his habit of stopping fights too late.
However, one of Mazzagatti’s worst errors saw him step in at the perfect time to stop the 2008 welterweight bout between Anthony Johnson and Kevin Burns. Unfortunately, he then made the wrong call entirely.
Burns was outgunned by ‘Rumble’ on the feet and seemed to be getting more desperate as the fight went on. Often reaching rather than punching, ‘The Fire’ was warned on more than one occasion for landing errant eye pokes to his opponent.
In the third round, though, a truly nasty poke connected with Johnson’s eye that sent ‘Rumble’ down to the canvas, writhing in pain.
Quite rightfully, Mazzagatti instantly called the fight off, recognizing that Johnson couldn’t continue. However, when it came to the decision, Burns was somehow declared the winner via TKO, meaning the official had missed the eye poke entirely.
It was anyone’s guess as to how this had happened, as it was obvious to everyone watching that ‘Rumble’ had taken an illegal blow.
Even more bizarrely, the result was never overturned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission – leaving the UFC to book a rematch that saw Johnson take his revenge, viciously knocking Burns out with a head kick.
#4. Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert – UFC on ESPN 14 (Herb Dean)
Late stoppages are perhaps the most dangerous of referee botches in the UFC, as the primary job of the official is to keep the fighters safe.
While veteran referee Herb Dean is rarely known for late stoppages, in the summer of 2020 he had a particularly bad night, with his stoppage in the bout between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert standing out.
The fight had been a back-and-forth one, with both men landing some strong shots, but when Herbert dropped ‘Massaranduba’ in the second round, he looked on his way to a win.
However, Trinaldo came back in the third, landing a brutal left hand that wrecked the Brit’s equilibrium and sent him crashing to the ground, clearly unconscious.
The fight was over, and the Brazilian was clearly reluctant to follow up. However, Dean didn’t seem to notice this, urging Trinaldo to attack Herbert further.
Eventually, a confused ‘Massaranduba’ landed some extra, unneeded punches, and finally, Dean called the bout off.
This stoppage was so egregious that former fighter Dan Hardy, acting as color commentator, confronted Dean aggressively, a situation that would lead to him losing his job. Unfortunately, watching the fight back, it was hard to disagree with ‘The Outlaw’.
#3. Drew Dober vs. Leandro Silva – UFC Fight Night 62 (Eduardo Herdy)
While they’re not as dangerous as late stoppages, early stoppages are almost as frustrating to see for both the fighters and the fans in the UFC.
Often, of course, whether a stoppage is truly early is up for debate. We’ve seen fighters claim on several occasions that their fight has been stopped early when, in reality, that probably wasn’t the case.
However, in 2015, Brazilian referee Eduardo Herdy botched a stoppage so badly that seemingly everyone else in the arena could see that it was early. It was such a bad call that the result of the fight was immediately overturned and declared a No Contest.
The bout in question saw lightweights Drew Dober and Leandro Silva facing off. In the second round, the fight hit the ground, and Silva attempted to lock up a guillotine choke.
The hold never looked tight, as Dober stayed calm and moved from danger into the half-guard of his Brazilian foe. From there, though, just as he worked to pop his head free, Herdy inexplicably stepped in and called an end to proceedings.
He believed Dober had gone unconscious inside the hold, which wasn’t even close to being the case. Replays confirmed that Dober was never out cold, as he was moving, nor had he made an effort to tap out.
Unsurprisingly, everyone involved was left furious by the incident, with Dana White labelling it “bullsh*t” and agreeing to pay Dober his win bonus, regardless.
Thankfully, the Brazilian MMA commission agreed, and swiftly overturned the result, while also praising Herdy for recognizing his error.
#2. Ed Herman vs. Mike Rodriguez – UFC Fight Night 177 (Chris Tognoni)
Earlier this year, lightweight contender Renato Moicano labelled Chris Tognoni as “the worst referee of all time”.
The Brazilian may have been influenced by the fact that he believed Tognoni to have stopped his fight with Rafael Fiziev a little early. However, it was hard to disagree when he labeled the referee’s performance in the bout between Ed Herman and Mike Rodriguez as a “disgrace”.
The fight in question, which took place in 2020, saw Rodriguez largely dominate his older foe in the early going, hurting him in both the first and second rounds. Late in the second, though, he landed a knee to the body that folded ‘Short Fuse’ and probably should’ve resulted in the fight being stopped.
Instead, Tognoni mistakenly believed the knee had hit Herman’s groin, and called time instead, allowing the veteran five minutes to recover.
It was a baffling call and one that was made even more galling when ‘Short Fuse’ somehow produced a miraculous comeback in the third round to submit Rodriguez with a kimura.
Unsurprisingly, Dana White was livid after the event, labeling Tognoni’s error as “Mazzagatti-level”. He also revealed that he’d paid Rodriguez his win bonus as realistically, he would’ve had his hand raised were it not for the official’s mistake.
Whether Tognoni deserved the label put on him by Moicano is debatable, but there’s no denying that this was a major botch.
#1. Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill – TUF 9 Finale (Steve Mazzagatti)
While Steve Mazzagatti has already appeared once on this list, it’d be insane to leave perhaps his worst botch out, purely as it remains probably the most egregious refereeing mistake in UFC history.
Were it not for this mistake, current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones would still sport an unbeaten, unblemished record, and Matt Hamill would be remembered for a solid career in his own right rather than as the answer to a trivia question.
‘Bones’ and ‘The Hammer’ clashed on the TUF 9 Finale in late 2009 in what was supposed to be the toughest test of Jones’ career to that point. However, despite Hamill’s impressive wrestling credentials, it didn’t take long for ‘Bones’ to dominate him.
He threw ‘The Hammer’ onto his back with a brutal foot sweep, and then advanced to full mount, where he proceeded to destroy the TUF veteran with a series of punches and elbows.
Despite Hamill being sliced wide open, though, Mazzagatti refused to step in until Jones threw what was apparently an illegal downward elbow.
That was enough for the referee to step in and call time, but few could’ve expected what happened next. First, Mazzagatti took a point from Jones for the foul, before asking the downed Hamill if he could continue.
This would’ve been fine were it not for the fact that ‘The Hammer’ was deaf, and naturally couldn’t hear the referee’s question.
When he didn’t respond, Mazzagatti waved off the fight – and announced that Jones had been disqualified for the illegal blow, despite Hamill clearly being done way before it even landed.
Not only had Mazzagatti allowed Hamill to take far more damage than was necessary, but he also completely botched the eventual stoppage and caused the wrong result to go down in history. There’s no doubt that this stands as the worst refereeing botch in UFC history.