While no video seems readily available, it's being reported at Sherdog that Yves Lavigne repeated his dubious stop-and-start refereeing performance last night at UFC 98 in the Kyle Bradley vs Phillipe Nover bout.

Kyle Bradley grasped his first Octagon victory in three outings with a controversial first-round TKO against debutante Phillipe Nover in their lightweight bout. Bradley shrugged off Nover’s first takedown attempt, then connected on "The Ultimate Fighter 8" runner-up with a stinging right hand. Reaching for a single leg, Nover slipped forward onto his face. Referee Yves Lavigne stepped in and halted the bout, but backed away when a cognizant Nover rolled onto his back.

With the fight still in play, Bradley landed some glancing blows on the 25-year-old Nover. Lavigne intervened a second time and waved off the bout just as Nover rose to his feet, much to the Brooklyn, N.Y., native’s and the rabid crowd’s disapproval. The official time was 1:03, while replays inside the arena did little to bolster referee Lavigne’s actions.

 

This is bad. I was a major detractor of Lavigne after his actions at UFC 96 in the Matt Brown vs Pete Sell fight, which took place only two short months ago; suggesting that if he makes a similar error in the future, he should be punished by the athletic commission. I'm interested to see if any video surfaces of this newest instance. If things went down as suggested, something needs to be done. We have to hold our referees accountable to mistakes of this gravity for our sport to grow and be given the credibility it deserves.

GIF by Chris Nelson