Yahoo Sports Drew Dober Gets Win Bonus After Referee’s ‘Ridiculous’ UFC Fight Night 62 Stoppage
Despite a night of stunning finishes and dominant performances, UFC Fight Night 62 will be best remembered for the mind-boggling referee stoppage during the lightweight bout between Drew Dober and Leandro Silva.
Midway through the second frame, Silva applied an arm-in guillotine choke from the bottom but wasn’t in proper position to legitimately threaten with the submission attempt. Dober did not tap and was doing exactly what you’d expect a fighter to do in that situation. At no point was he in danger of being finished.
Despite there being no tap out or anything remotely resembling one, the referee stopped the fight leaving everyone in attendance and watching on television baffled.
“It was horrible. It was ridiculous that anybody would think that was a tap. It’s insane,” said UFC president Dana White during the event’s post-fight press conference.
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While the UFC’s hands are tied when it comes to whom an athletic commission assigns to referee a fight, White doesn’t think the referee in that bout should ever referee a fight again.
White took to Twitter immediately following the debacle saying, “Now there is a guy that should never ref again.”
Now there is a guy who should NEVER ref again!!!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) March 22, 2015
“We’re going to pay that kid his win money,” said White.
White would like to see the fight ruled a No Contest, but knows that it may be an uphill battle.
“I personally think — and I’m going to let my guys who handle that stuff — that thing should be overturned and ruled a No Contest,” said the UFC president.
“That referee was so bad. Anybody that follows the sport knows that guy wasn’t in any danger right there. He was actually just slipping out of it. And he was on the top position where he could have done damage, or possibly finished the fight. And this guy calls it,” continued White.
“I know how athletic commissions are, and I know that they back up their own, but everybody in this room and everybody on this planet knows that was (expletive),” he added. “Hopefully that can be overturned into a No Contest and we do it fair. And nothing against the kid who won. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t make the call. But that was (expletive), and it needs to be fixed.”
