Speaking to Sherdog's Loretta Hunt after last night's Strikeforce event at the Playboy Mansion, Joe Riggs had some harsh words for referee Josh Rosenthal, who many seem to feel waved off Riggs' main event bout with Kazuo Misaki prematurely. According to Riggs, Rosenthal admitted his mistake to agent Ken Pavia while watching the post-fight replay.
I've had over 50 fights, I've never complained about a stoppage in my career. Never. And, uh... this one's bad, man. F*** it. I was on the ground, f***** defending and everything... I was thinking in my head, "C'mon, hurry up and stop punching so I can come pull you down." It's ironic, 'cause back in 2004 when I fought Alex Stiebling, I beat Alex to death. Almost killed him, he was in the hospital. Alex said after the fight, "Next time, stop the fight, that's dangerous." My cornerman was soaked in blood. And Josh Rosenthal didn't stop the fight then. And then, now the m*****f***** stops this fight for nothing, you know? The guy f***** hit me twice and... I mean, he goes from one extreme to the next. Pick the way you're gonna ref the f***** fights. Either you're gonna let me kill someone, or you're gonna be a little b**** and stop it if they land a big punch.
I sympathize with Joe, who's had some tough battles outside of the cage in recent years and looked to be in good shape for last night, but "I was waiting for him to stop punching" is rarely a sound gameplan.
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