5 Controversial but Justified Referee Stoppages

It’s fair to say that MMA referees take their fair share of stick from both fans and media. As viewers, we have a tendency to underestimate just how difficult a referee’s job is, and determining when to stop a fight may be its most challenging feature.

Referees are charged with giving the athlete every opportunity to recover from bad positions, but they are also tasked with ensuring the fighter’s safety. The ability to strike the correct balance between these contradictory aims is often what separates the Herb Deans from the Steve Mazzagattis of the refereeing world.

Step in a fraction of a second too late, and you’re guilty of allowing the fighter to take too much punishment. Step in a little too early, and you’ve potentially cost the fighter thousands of dollars, months of training they can never get back and set their career back a few months at the very least.

With that in mind, let’s take a moment to give these much-maligned officials the benefit of the doubt. Read on for a rundown of five controversial but justifiable stoppages.

Strikeforce: Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko

When Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko squared off back in 2011, expectations were high for a back-and-forth classic.

Given their reputations, the safe money was on the fight going the distance. The notion that either man would win by knockout seemed like a long shot, which perhaps played into the controversy that followed the finish.

The finishing sequence started when Fedor dropped Henderson with an uppercut midway through the first round. The Russian attempted to capitalise and followed up with some strikes on the ground.

However, Henderson was quick to recover. He slipped out the back door, took his foe’s back and landed an absolute peach of an uppercut that momentarily shut off Emelianenko’s lights.

Noticing the Russian go limp, Herb Dean jumped in and stopped the fight. Unfortunately, Fedor regained consciousness just as Dean stepped in. Predictably, controversy erupted.

Blinded by bias, the former pound-for-pound king’s army of devoted followers took to social media to express their outrage.

Repeat viewing appears to vindicate Dean on this occasion, though. Not only was Fedor momentarily unconscious, but Henderson was in the process of raining down more hammer blows.

UFC 164: Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir

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The bout between Josh Barnett and Frank Mir at UFC 164 was eagerly anticipated for the possibility that two of the heavyweight division’s most dominant submission artists would engage in a ground war.

Barnett had other ideas, however. He used his superior strength to rough up Mir against the cage, landing heavy knees and punches from the clinch.

Around two minutes into the opening round, Barnett pushed his opponent’s head down and landed a brutal knee to the temple. Mir’s legs immediately gave way, and he crumpled to the canvas.

Referee Robert Hinds rushed in to call a halt to the contest, preventing Barnett from landing any follow-up strikes.

As expected, Twitter erupted. Angry viewers could be heard whacking away at their keyboards from miles away.

The former heavyweight champion wobbled to his feet and complained about the stoppage. But in fairness to the referee, Mir looked out after the knee.

Could the referee have allowed the fight to continue for a little longer? Absolutely. I can certainly understand why the referee called a halt to the bout, though.

UFC 169: Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao

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It’s ironic that Herb Dean, arguably the best referee in the sport, was the third man in the cage for most of the entries on this list.

The ordinarily reliable Dean was again on duty when Renan Barao and Urijah Faber met for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 169.

With Faber having rattled off four impressive wins in a row since the pair’s first meeting, a competitive bout was anticipated when Team Alpha Male’s leader stepped up on relatively short notice to rematch the UFC’s 135-pound king.

It’s fair to say that the bout was more one-sided than expected.

Barao assaulted Faber with a dizzying mixture of attacks from the opening bell, hurting The California Kid on more than one occasion.

The champion eventually forced the wounded Faber to turtle up in an effort to block incoming hammerfists to the side of the head.

Despite blocking almost every shot thrown, and even giving the referee the thumbs up, the fight was called off a little over three minutes into the opening round.

I argued back in February that it was a bad stoppage. Unfortunately, the stoppage can also be justified because our traditional conception of intelligent defence is so counterintuitive.

The following passage from the aforementioned article still sums up my thoughts on the subject:

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What does it actually mean to intelligently defend oneself within the context of mixed martial arts? Referees are fond of admonishing imperiled fighters to “show me something,” which usually prompts said fighter to perform an action that is almost entirely for the referee’s benefit.

Let’s take the main event of UFC 169 as an example—part of Herb Dean’s mensis horribilis. As Urijah Faber clung desperately to Renan Barao’s leg, still dizzy from the assault that had just taken place, Dean asked Faber to indicate that he was still engaged in the fight.

The challenger obliged, giving the thumbs up while gamely defending against a barrage of hammer-fists. Unfortunately, the referee’s vision was obscured by Barao’s leg, and the fight was prematurely called to a halt.

That Dean didn’t see the gesture isn’t the problem. The problem is that Faber was expected to respond to the request in the first place.

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The idea that a fighter has to move, or immediately improve his position, has been responsible for a lot of poor stoppages. Moving for the sake of moving is not necessarily intelligent defence.

Indeed, in light of how it is currently defined, Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope would not constitute intelligent defence. Let that fact sink in for a moment.

Sometimes the best defence is to just cover up and ride out the storm. That is exactly what Faber attempted to do. Unfortunately, the poorly defined concept of intelligent defence will allow referees to justify bad stoppages until the issue is properly addressed.

UFC 170: Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann

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The bout between Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann at UFC 170 for the UFC women’s bantamweight title continues the theme of the previous entry.

Once again, the problem was the idea of intelligent defence. And once again, Herb Dean was the man in the middle of it all.

Back in February, I described the end of the fight as follows:

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Now, let’s examine the end of UFC 170’s main event between Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann. Having dropped to her knees after absorbing a crippling shot to the liver, McMann instinctively clasped her midsection. Almost immediately, Dean stepped in to stop the fight, reasoning that McMann had left her head too exposed.

Not only was McMann given very little time to try and recover, but she was actually penalized for protecting the most vulnerable part of her body: The area that had been hurt. I would no more expect McMann to cover her head after a body shot than I would expect her to clutch her body after a head shot.

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Like the stoppage at UFC 169, Dean had every right to call a halt to the contest in light of how we currently define intelligent defence.

UFC Fight Night 49: Benson Henderson vs. Rafael dos Anjos

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The recent fight between Benson Henderson and Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 49 will be fresh in the memory for most.

Like his older, heavier namesake, Henderson has become known for his ability to absorb punishment, all the while maintaining an absolute poker face.

It came as a shock, then, when dos Anjos stopped the former UFC lightweight king with strikes midway through the first round.

The finishing sequence started with a flying knee that stunned the former champion. As Henderson scrambled to his feet, dos Anjos landed a beautiful left hook, leading to a flash knockout.

Referee John McCarthy stepped in to stop the fight before dos Anjos could follow up with any significant strikes.

Naturally, fans complained about McCarthy being overzealous and for not allowing Henderson the opportunity to recover.

My immediate reaction was that the stoppage came a little early. However, having watched the replay multiple times, it’s clear that Henderson didn’t know where he was.

As the referee stood over him, Henderson appeared to be in a daze. His eyes were glazed over, and he looked to be in no condition to continue.

The stoppage was not only justified, but it was absolutely spot on.