Officiating is important in any sport. Just ask the Baltimore Orioles in the ’96 ALCS.  Or ask the Seattle Seahawks after Superbowl XL. These two examples demonstrate just how important proper officiating can be. Saturday night gave us a glimpse into the mixed bag of officiating that exists right now in MMA. 

Good officiating: Yves Lavinge refereeing C.B. Dollaway versus Jesse Taylor. Lavigne showed excellent professionalism after C.B. illegally struck a downed opponent with a knee to the head. Yves Lavigne called for time, and then preceded to clearly and slowly explain his ruling so the judges, fighters and the audience could all hear the warning. Lavigne was making sure that C.B. knew what would happen if he repeated the foul. Also once C.B. had secured the peruvian necktie Jesse Taylor appeared to tap his hand once (anyone remember C.B. and Amir). Yves Lavigne did not stop the fight and waited for the full tap. Yves' decision showed that he understood how a single tap can cause controversy and it is better to wait that extra second to see the full tap.

Bad officiating: Steve Mazzagati was in charge of Anthony Johnson versus Kevin Burns. The entire fight Johnson was complaining of being poked in the eye. Mazzagati saw the complaints but not the crime, however he should have been aware something was afoul especially in the third round when Johnson complained twice to being poked. Mazzagati's little mistakes built up into a significant mistake when Kevin Burns buried his finger into Johnson’s eye socket. As Anthony flew back from the pain Mazzagati wasn’t sure what occurred and assumed it was from a punch. The ruling was an unjust TKO victory for Kevin Burns. 

 Mario Yamasaki doesn't escape from bad officiating either. Mario has gotten into the bad habit of letting fights go to long once they are clearly over. It happened again with Jake O’Brien and Cain Velasquez. Once Cain achieved the crucifix mount and begun burying haymakers into a defenseless O’Brien the fight should have been stopped. But no Mario let it continue. I physically got up and left the room and came back to see the pounding continue. Eventually Yamasaki ended the fight but it seemed quite similar to his poor stoppage in the ‘Ninja’ Rua, Robbie Lawler fight. 

While only one of the outcomes was altered due to poor officiating these examples still highlight the importance of proper refereeing for exciting, fair and most importantly safe fights.