UFC president Dana White has criticised two UFC refereeing officials following the promotion’s opening event of 2020 in Las Vegas.
White was in high spirits following UFC 246, which saw Conor McGregor execute an emphatic knockout win over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
McGregor despatched Cerrone in 40 seconds in his highly anticipated comeback fight.
But not all was plain sailing, and the UFC boss had some harsh words when speaking about referees Jason Herzog and Mark Smith.
Herzog was the official for Holly Holm’s decision victory against Raquel Pennington.
The co-main event was lacking excitement, and saw the two fighters lock arms for long periods rather than trading blows.
And White was critical of the referee’s reluctance to separate the fighters from the clinch.
‘So Frustrated’
Speaking post-fight, White (via MMA Junkie) said: “He let them clinch for four minutes for three f***ing rounds and they fought for a minute.”
“That was a problem, too.”
“That drove me crazy.”
“If you are not doing damage or advancing position, you split the fighters up and make them actually fight.”
“I don’t want to bum this guy out or whatever, but he’s running around the Octagon.”
“Like, what f***ing fight is he watching?”
“He’s moving around like he’s trying to stay out of the way like there’s a f***ing war going on or something.”
“These guys are leaning up against the fence for four minutes, are you sh***ing me right now?”
White blames the officiating as the reason the fight was so lacklustre, and says he almost stopped watching.
“I literally almost got up and walked out of that fight,” he continued.
“I was so frustrated.”
“You saw the fight.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Slow Stoppage
The second piece of officiating White thought was sub-par was Mark Smith’s stoppage decision in the fight between Drew Dober and Nasrat Haqparast.
Dober took the win via stoppage, but referee Smith was hesitant in stopping the fight.
He allowed a dazed Haqparast to take numerous shots before he finally stepped in and ended things.
“The Dober fight, he got hit with like 12 unanswered shots,” White said.
“The reffing wasn’t 100 percent tonight.”
“That’s a fact.”
Another referee under fire is Herb Dean, who officiated the headliner between McGregor and Cerrone.
McGregor went straight in for the kill and dispatched ‘Cowboy’ in seconds.
But some fans questioned whether the fight should have been stopped even earlier.
However, despite being critical of the nights officiating in general, White disagrees.
“I don’t know if the Cerrone stoppage was horrible, though,” he explained.
“I don’t know if I’d say that.”
“Never once did I look at the fight and go, ‘They should have stopped that sooner,’ like I did for the Dober fight.”
‘We’re Not the Refs’
He went on to admit that while he disagrees with some of the decisions, UFC officials have a difficult job.
“At the end of the day, the reality is we’re not in there.”
“We’re not the refs.”
“I wish it could be perfect, but it’s never going to be perfect.”
“It’s never going to be perfect in football, basketball, or any other sport.”
“It’s never going to be perfect here.”
“I think it’s probably one of the toughest jobs in all of sports.”
“Everybody is an expert.”
“Everybody is a critic.”
“Everybody wants to rip you apart after they don’t like the way you did it. As long as nobody gets hurt.”
(Featured image source: Twitter/ Dana White and MMA Junkie)