A lot of controversy always surrounds officials when they make decisions about whether or not a fighter should be disqualified, and sometimes I feel its important to jump to the defense of a referee. Last night was not one of those times.
Steve Mazzagatti’s call during the Lesnar fight was one everyone seems to agree was moronic, but his jumpy tendencies in last night’s fight between Jon Jones and Matt Hamill was one of the worst pieces of officiating in the history of mixed martial arts, and perhaps one of the worst calls in the history of professional sports.
Whether NSAC chooses to overturn the call, and I think they absolutely should, is up to them, but I figured (just for the people who aren’t entirely clear on exactly what went wrong, or on some of the details of officiating) I’d lay out exactly why Mazzagatti should never be allowed to referee a high profile event like that again.
I could not agree more with the fact that this needs to be overturned. If not, it is an injustice to Jones in almost the same degree that Rumble was robbed in his fight with Burns...was that also Mazzagati? Ibelieve it was.
This guy is on a downward spiral reminiscent in sports of only Ryan Leaf. Wow!!!!!!
Great column/analysis. I just wonder if Hamill's deafness played a part in the obvious lack of communication in the end of this fight. I don't recall Mazzagatti attempting to ask Hamill a single question after the point deduction/stoppage.
I just wonder if Hamill's deafness played a part in the obvious lack of communication in the end of this fight. I don't recall Mazzagatti attempting to ask Hamill a single question after the point deduction/stoppage.
He did ask if Hamill was able to continue (probably the only thing he did right), and he did so before bringing a doctor into the ring (which was stupid).
I do think Hamill's deafness contributed to the confusion, but I don't think it excuses Mazzagatti, who made a decision without really considering the implications or the protocol he's supposed to appeal to.
Great article. I fully agree with you. Mazzagatti's reffing was really weak last night and something should be done about it. Of course, it wasn't much better than the Johnson vs Burns 1, which probably made the MMA Gods cry.
Great write as usual Josh, I think it was rediculous, I mean the guy needs to go back to ref school.....Bring back Big John, thee morons like Mirgliogatta are a joke as well....
Good article, no excusing Jones for what he did. I think the fight should have been stopped much earlier, another shocking call.
This from Dana Whites Twitter last night prior to the Jones vs Hamil fight.
I can't believe the nevada state athletic comm puts him in there!!!! Guy knows nothing about MMA. Scary
about 23 hours ago from Tweetie
Illegal knee instantly that mazzagatti doesn't call even when he is staring right at them!
about 23 hours ago from Tweetie
Dana doesn't have that kind of political clout when it comes to the commission. People forget how much diplomacy it took to get MMA sanctioned in Nevada (a state where the Fertitta's are taken very seriously).
Frankly, the Nevada State Athletic Commission guys do a good job, most of the time, and they are good at keeping promoters from getting too manipulative. That's one of the reasons Keith Kizer gets so much respect from MMA journalists.
But Dana is right on this one and Kizer is just plain wrong.
When Dana is right, I certainly hope people have the common sense to listen to him.
Yeah I mean yeah he did do two illegal elbows but a warning should have been giving at least. Also the fight should be a NC or a win for Jones because that was defintely terrible reffing.
I think he should have been DQ'd. The only reason i think that is because the illegal elbows are the ones that actullay finished the fight. If they didn't DQ him it would have sent the message that you can do illegal moves, as long as you finish the fight with them. If Hammill could have continued then they should have just taken a point. He missed with a few illegal elbows and you can here Mazzagati warning him then he connected with the two and thats when he stopped it.
I never liked this Ref on 70% of his calls or Late Calls, and im truly sick of Steve, its like some how each time there is some kind of crapy call he is always behind it... Always.... But forgetting about him, Jon Jones did a amazing job that night beating a UFC Veteran like that.... He beat him in every espect of the game, even got a full mount like it was butter, then layed on the beating that started this thread, But how does this "Lose" go in the eyes of Dana? and Joe Rogen? Like he won in disgusting fashion I dont see Dana giving Matt Hamill higher Calibur fights and Jones moving down the ladder like u would normaly see... I wonder if they will move Jones up but only a slightly harder fight then they would if he didnt get DQ'ed? i wonder how that works, or if its just no rule of thumb on it
I think the DQ was a good call, He went back and used the new instant replay to see what happened. He saw the damage caused from the illegal elbows and ruled it a DQ. Now I do think that before he waved the fight off the doctor, or someone should've come in to get the blood out of his eyes, so he could at least see what Maz was saying to him.
if you watch it again his eyes are closed and full of blood, so there was no way he could've heard (obviously) or seen what he was saying.
You're insane IronMan...everyone knows the illegal elbow ended the fight because it caused the brain to send the message to the shoulder to hurt...Jeez. How could you not make that deduction? :thumb02:
I respectfully disagree. If you watch the fight again Steve stops the fight and deducts a point. He stands Jones up directs him to a neutral corner. All the while Hammill is flailing on the mat unable to regain his composure. Steve walks over to him looks at his eye and waves off the fight. Hammill did not say anything and did not indicate until after the fight was waved off that there was a problem with his shoulder. You are merely speculating after the fact that his shoulder was the issue when there was nothing in the course of the fight to indicate that his shoulder was injured.
You can say, if you wish, that Steve had no right to stop the fight or to DQ, but you'd be wrong on both counts.
Be that as it may, there is little or no cause for an appeal on the basis of Steve's actions, as already stated by Kizer.
If you want to speculate on a misstep by the referee, he should have assessed the fouled fighter's condition prior to deducting a point.
I respectfully disagree. If you watch the fight again Steve stops the fight and deducts a point. He stands Jones up directs him to a neutral corner. All the while Hammill is flailing on the mat unable to regain his composure. Steve walks over to him looks at his eye, [ask matt if he can continue] and waves off the fight. Hammill [says no]and did not indicate until after the fight was waved off that there was a problem with his shoulder. You are merely speculating after the fact that his shoulder was the issue when there was nothing in the course of the fight to indicate that his shoulder was injured.
You can say, if you wish, that Steve had no right to stop the fight or to DQ, but you'd be wrong on both counts.
Be that as it may, there is little or no cause for an appeal on the basis of Steve's actions, as already stated by Kizer.
If you want to speculate on a misstep by the referee, he should have assessed the fouled fighter's condition prior to deducting a point.
There fixed ya story for ya so it was accurate. And it isn't speculation about why Matt said he can not continue when there was a post fight interview of Matt Hammill saying he could not continue because of his shoulder.
7:35 - Mazzagatti stands Jones up and calls for a point deduction.
7:42 - Steve approaches Matt and asks "Are you done? You done?"
7:46 - Mazzagatti stops the fight. (I have no problem with the stoppage; Hamill clearly couldn't continue)
7:48 - Hamill gestures clearly to his shoulder to communicate the injury to Mazzagatti.
The shoulder injury is the direct cause of the ending of the fight.
Whether NSAC is going to allow an appeal is irrelevant. Kizer has made it clear that he is going to cover Mazzagatti's ass, but that doesn't legitimize a terrible call.
Kizer claimed in an interview that "you have the illegal elbow that cut Hamill and that's why the fight was stopped." Well, as I've already demonstrated, that's just a lie.
Kizer seems to be trying very hard to justify keeping a referee who clearly sucks at his job. But that's a separate point altogether.
Is there a union involved here? That would explain a lot.
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