Dana and the Fertittas need to do their part to make things right with Big John, the commisions, and Zuffa.

Hell, all parties involved need to swallow their pride and do what’s best. Everyone will continue to lose out in these types of situations if horrible refs are allowed to keep doing what they do.

If he wasn’t actively improving his position it would have been a fine stoppage, but he was fighting with obvious awareness so it was an odd stoppage.

In a vacuum, was the fight stopped early? Sure, Rothwell wasn’t out by any means, and was in the process of getting back to his feet.

In the context of the fight, was the fight stopped early? I’m not so sure. There’s something to be said about stopping a fight if a fighter is so dominated and overwhelmed that it becomes a matter of simple survival. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but there’s certainly a argument there.

he had one arm pinned by Cain, but the other arm (right arm i believe) was resting freely on the ground. at first i though it was a case where Ben didnt cover his face, maybe looking for a way out. I felt the same way when Hughes beat BJ. BJ got trapped in the crucifix and just kinda stuck his face out and closed his eyes. Of course Ben was pissed after the fight, so maybe he didnt want out.

Either way, I felt it was a good stoppage. He would have just been pummeled more if it had gone any longer. that of course isnt a good enough reason to stop a fight, but not covering your face with your free arm ad you take 5 big shots to the face, is.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rothwell took several unanswered power shots to the face before he even tried to stand up, so I wonder if Mazz was moving in already before Big Ben pushed of Cain’s head (I didn’t see any camera angles that confirm or deny this).

I’m not entirely unhappy with the stoppage – yes, it was early, but Ben was beat down pretty badly, just winging punches with a prayer. Had he not been dominated in the first, there wouldn’t have been a need to worry over his safety.

Cain’s going far. If he can increase his punching power, he’ll dominate.

i can see, and agree with letting someone who is atleast some kind of threat get beat around, as long theyre throwing the occasionl submission i.e. eric schaeffer rearlier that night, but rothwell might as well have been a grappling dummy, he was not going to win, maz just sparred bens daughter from having her dad drooling on himself in the next pta meeting.

I’ll probably get some disagreement, but I think the “mercy” point applies more to Johnson-Yoshida. It was a hard punch, he landed sort of bad, but appeared to be spinning back around. It’s hard to tell, with how quick the stoppage was, but I would have preferred to see a more definitive finish than just a knockdown, really. I think people’s subconscious perceptions of “Johnson hits hard” coupled with “Yoshida is fragile” led to this overly sensitive alertness – like “Oh! It’s happening! Quick, stop it!”

And in a more general sense, the idea of mercy stoppages irritates me to no end. Let fighters fight. I’m not looking for gladiator kills, but the idea of saving a prizefighter from being hit is absurd. Stop it in the locker room if you’re so worried.

if what people are saying about cain’s power is true, I mean the punches did look really powerful, but Idk Rothwell didn’t seem affected.

In the Cain-Rothwell fight, me and the people I was watching with actually discussed this. Our impression was that it was just an “odd” timing on the stoppage. For example, if he steps in and stops it after only FOUR unanswered shots to the fact, it would have seemed perfectly acceptable as Rothwell was doing nothing at all. But he allowed one more unanswered shot and then almost simulataneously with him stepping in Rothwell made a move to stand up, which made it look less acceptable.

I don’t think it’s all that controversial. Rothwell was being tossed around and pummeled repeatedly whether standing, on the ground, or up against the cage. It was a little “odd” seeing it at that exact moment, but not that big of a deal imo.

It wasn’t a robbery or anything … :)