That one ref sucked (I’ll always love Mario ‘Finish Him’ Yamamoto), but I am not about to declare Razek a bum after getting beat by Cantwell. I think it’s just possible that, at 22, Cantwell is just that damn good.

There’s a case to be made about the Al-Hassan vs. Cantwell fight, but that’s about it. Not much can be done to prevent what happened to Hill, Wolff was outmatched but a competent fighter and Yoshida is plenty talented to be in the spot he was. There was, however, exceptionally poor officiating, but even then the UFC is at the mercy of athletic commissions. Yamasaki is a native to DC so he’s able to make the trek, but the local NC refs – like the ones in Chicago – leave much to be desired.

And say what you want about Rogan, he’s not afraid to call out these jackass refs who are easily intimidated by the crowd. When a ref’s in over his head, Rogan is the first one to say it and I appreciate that.

“I don’t know what this ref wants them to do. They are doing something. They’re fighting.”

The Wolff/Saunders match wasn’t bad reffing….Wolff was blocking a large portion of them with him arms…then he decided to use his face.

Honestly the only poor officiating was that guy who kept calling for action in what I think was the Miller-Rees fight when they were in the clinch. I think it was that fight. The guys were working and jocking for position and he kept telling them to do something. The guy was clearly an idiot and knew nothing about MMA.

As it goes with the Cantwell armbar, a ref is not going to stop it right away if you are not tapping. Anybody with common sense is going to tap out if their arm is about to be broken. Al-Hussan didn’t. There are many cases where a guy looks like he locks an armbar but doesn’t have it tight enough or something and the other guy escapes. Similarly, should the ref have stopped the Miller-Wiman fight when that guillotine was locked in so tight? No, of course not. In the case of an armbar, by the time a ref jumps in to stop it if you don’t tap, chances are it’s broken.

I noticed Rogan was highly critical of one of the ref’s (can’t recall his name) for breaking up the combatants too quickly. As for Saunders vs. Wolff, I thought there could have been slightly earlier stoppage. Wolff just wasn’t doing anything to improve position. He was eating some wicked shots. I don’t think anyone saw him making a comeback. Poor Hill; I saw a break like that in a Muay Thai match on Inside Edition (or some show like that) years ago. I hope he can recover.

and fwiw, Al-Hussan had a dislocated elbow, not a broken arm.

Either way, it’s really hard for a ref to tell what kind of pressure is being put on a joint – I’ve seen fights where I was sure a shoulder or arm would give, but the fighter was able to get free. I think the only legitimate way to judge a ref is whether they notice any damage and stop the fight immediately if they do.

Frankly, referees are tasked with an extremely difficult job. They’re forced to make vital judgments about a fighter’s well-being with little time and incomplete information. Often times, they’re lambasted for ending a fight prematurely. And when a competitor is injured, they’re accused of allowing the fight to go on too long. It’s hard for me to condemn a referee unless his, or her, actions were clearly inappropriate.

Agreed. I don’t think I saw anything last night that that made me think the officiating was particularly bad. The refs are in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” sort of position. Besides, it’s not like the UFC has control over the refs. If the refs suck, then its up to the commissions to make sure they’re trained properly.

This article doesn’t touch on the absolute biggest referee blunder of the night: not stopping the fight immediately after Hill’s leg shattered. I don’t care where you’re standing, an injury like that shouldn’t require Joe Rogan screaming at you to stop the fight.

Incidentally this was the same ref that stood up the guy who had just taken the other fighter’s back.

When it comes down to it one of the brutal incidents was a freak accident, and this has happened in MMA before, just not on such a large stage and the other two incidents were partially due to slow stoppages by the refs. Everybody complains about quick stoppages but both the Saunders and the Cantwell fight should have been stopped earlier. The refs need to be aware who is in the cage. They were two first timers that wanted to show that they belonged in the UFC and they weren’t going to give up no matter what. I’m not putting this all on the refs because if the fighter chooses not to tap then he has to face the consequences, that’s part of being a fighter, but it is also the refs duty to protect the fighters from themselves.

The guy didn’t even blink or make a facial sign of pain that his arm broke. If he wasn’t on anything, he won my respect.