"The worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life" - Daniel Cormier slams the officiating for the Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit St. Denis fight at UFC 267
Daniel Cormier has slammed referee Vyacheslav Kiselev after he failed to stop the Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit St. Denis welterweight fight at UFC 267, despite the latter suffering huge damage.
Zaleski dos Santos and St. Denis were fighting in the preliminary card. The former dominated the bout throughout and even inflicted some heavy unanswered blows during an absolutely one-sided second round.
However, Kiselev didn't intervene and let the encounter go the distance. St. Denis did show immense toughness but he was clearly struggling having suffered some severe impact, especially to the head.
The entire MMA world, including Cormier on Twitter, has called out the UFC official and he has now been relieved of further duty at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi:
"Honestly the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life. Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like @JasonHerzogMMA @JohnMcCarthyMMA @HerbDeanMMA and many more. I hated watching that I hope Benoit is heading to hospital right now!"
See Daniel Cormier's tweet below:
Honestly the worst performance I have seen from a referee in my life. Honestly a hard job but man unreal. Makes you respect the good ones like @JasonHerzogMMA @JohnMcCarthyMMA @HerbDeanMMA and many more. I hated watching that I hope Benoit is heading to hospital right now !
Cormier is a former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. He retired from MMA last year after losing to Stipe Miocic for the second consecutive time. He is now an MMA analyst with ESPN.
Daniel Cormier is currently on commentary duty alongside Jon Anik and Paul Felder for UFC 267
Daniel Cormier will be calling all preliminary and main card fights at UFC 267 on Fight Island alongside long-time play-by-play commentator Jon Anik and former lightweight contender Paul Felder today.
'DC' will also conduct post-fight octagon interviews at the event.
Hasbulla out here landing a clean punch on Daniel Cormier at #UFC267 😂
(via @dc_mma) https://t.co/yJ4ObLFIQQ
UFC 267 will be main evented by a light heavyweight championship bout between titleholder Jan Blachowicz and No.1 contender Glover Teixeira.
This will be Blachowicz's second title defense after getting past UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision earlier this year.