I believe the points about the inadequacy of Virginia’s athletic commission are now well known, but a situation has been brought to my attention (most vocally by David Wolf of MMAPayout.com) that merits recognition in this space.

I am embarrassed to admit I missed this issue when it happened right before my eyes, although I will try to explain how it could’ve happen later in this post. For now, feast your eyes on what can only be described as an unforgivable mistake.

The scene is UWC 6. Jose Villarisco, a WKA national champion and flyweight member of Team Lloyd Irvin, is fighting the sturdy and stout wrestler in Mikey Lovato. By round three on most reasonable judges’ scorecards, Villarisco is likely down two rounds to none. Villarisco has considerable stand-up pedigree and is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Lloyd Irvin, but was having trouble stopping the takedowns and ground and pound of Lovato. Villarisco spent the vast majority of both the first and second rounds on his back defending the assault of Lovato to very little effect. The third round, however, was a much different story. Down, but certainly not out, Villarisco came out in round three like a bat out of Hell.

Not only was Villarisco stuffing all of the takedown attempts from Lovato (attempts, I might add, that were no longer being set up with strikes), but he was badly punishing him with heavy punches standing and on the ground. In fact, Lovato was borderline avoiding the fight as his weak takedown attempts were being easily stuffed and he clearly wanted no part of Villarisco standing.  He was by this point consistently taking far too long to get off the canvas to re-engage the fight.

Then something strange happened. Something so utterly, mind numbingly incompent happened that you almost wouldn’t believe were it not for the fight footage being available for all to see: the fight was stopped with 48 seconds left on the show clock.

Was it stopped because a fighter quit or because referee Mario Yamasaki had seen enough? No. Was it stopped because a fighter was injured or because the full five minutes in the round had elapsed? Not even close.

So what happened? Why was the fight stopped with 48 (or 47 on my personal clock) seconds left to go in the third?

Here’s why: the timekeeper appointed and employed by Virginia’s athletic commission for the Villarisco vs. Lovato fight simply stopped the fight early. With at least 47 seconds left to go, he or she just sounded the horn. Referee Yamasaki, after hearing the horn, quickly inquired whether that was the end of the round. He was informed that it was and therefore indicated the round had expired. Lovato, clearly in deep trouble in round three, was spared 47 seconds of fight. Villarisco, on the other hand, had 47 seconds of fight taken from him right as he began to pour it on.

One barely knows what to say here. The negligence and inability to perform even the most basic task is positively staggering. Honestly, is there a more manageable responsibility than being a timekeeper in professional MMA? Is it actually difficult to sound a horn when the referee opens the round and to do so again five minutes later? How on earth do you botch that?

The time between rounds is, by law, only supposed to be one minute in professional MMA. For whatever reason in this fight the break between the second and third rounds went longer (although, again, the referee and the commission are responsible for upholding this rule). In fact, if you listen closely you can hear a bell sound three times, but the referee had not started the action and the cage canvas was still being cleaned. As I understand it, the fight does not start until the referee begins the action and in this circumstance Yamasaki does not do so until 17 seconds elapsed after what appears to be a three-bell count.

This is something so outrageous and territory I’ve covered so thoroughly I don’t need to offer much comment, but I would like to see this loss erased from Villarisco’s record. It deserves to be a no-content and we have incontrovertible truth that the fight administration by commission officials improperly led to an outrageously early stoppage.

I know I’ve been harping on this issue, but here’s the reality: you can’t do this to people. You cannot rob men or women who sacrifice unspeakable amounts of health and wellness (particularly in the early and late stage of their careers) of the means of their livelihood. It is simply not acceptable that this is happening and something must be done so that there isn’t another Chase Beebe or Jose Villarisco treated so grotesquely.

Another point to consider and pass along that was astutely made to me last week: while we are accustomed to losses in MMA not carrying a great deal of weight, the truth is fighters like Beebe and  Villarisco can have their livelihoods directly affected. While Villarisco’s 0-2 start is not as auspicious as it should be for such a promising athletic talent, it certainly means if he is to compete again he must win. And for Beebe, the situation is even more dire. In boxing if you lose six fights in a row there are many athletic commissions that, by law, will not sanction you to fight. If Beebe loses to Maeda at DREAM.12, that will now be his fifth loss in a row. A naïve but well-intentioned commission could look at his record and decide it’s simply not safe to sanction a fighter on a five-fight losing streak. And, again, if Villarisco goes to 0-3, his MMA career could end before it begins.

The video is there for everyone to see. I encourage you all to do so. Part of me has apprehensions about documenting athletic commission shortcomings. Nothing would make me happier than to have a show like the UFC or Strikeforce stage a show near my hometown. But in good conscience, I cannot be so selfish. The larger concern is making sure the fighters and their fights are properly regulated. And the reality is that shows like the UWC are far too good to deserve this. While no fighter, professional or amateur, should be rewarded with this kind of treatment, the high-level professionals like Villarisco and Beebe in top-notch shows like the UWC warrant commission officials who take seriously the notion there is no room for error.

As for how I missed this, again, it’s hard to believe in retrospect. But when commentating, I rarely look at the television screens provided to me. I normally just look at the fighters with my own eyes. I suppose my own sense of timing was off, but I still should've known something was amiss. I also do not take the clock on television screen to be the official time clock, but in this circumstance I verified the round’s timing with my own stopwatch three different times last night. There is no doubt the fight is stopped with almost 20 percent of it still uncontested. While Villarisco could’ve been close to a stoppage, the truth is he could’ve been losing in the third and his case about being robbed of the opportunity would be just as strong. Remember, you cannot do this to people.

The commission indicated in the wake of the Easton vs. Beebe decision that they were taking action to rectify the matter of their own volition and accord. I hope they demonstrate the same level of initiative in the case of Jose Villarisco vs. Mikey Lovato. A young, promising fighter had his chance to win ripped unfairly from his hands. He did nothing wrong and yet is the only one being forced to suffer the consequences.

He deserves better and deserves it now. You cannot do this to people.