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While this weekend’s UFC 263 created plenty of talking points, one of the major ones coming out of the show was the fact that referee Al Guinee stopped Paul Craig’s fight with Jamahal Hill – who suffered a severe elbow injury – far too late.
Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill isn’t the first UFC fight to be stopped far too late by a referee, and over the years we’ve seen some pretty terrible officiating gaffes.
So with that in mind, here are five dangerously late referee stoppages in recent UFC history.
#1 Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill – UFC 263
We begin with the most recent late stoppage on this list – the light heavyweight clash between Paul Craig and Jamahal Hill at UFC 263.
Usually late referee stoppages stem from knockouts, but this one was very different as it involved a submission hold that was allowed to go on for far too long, leaving Hill badly injured after the fight.
Essentially, Craig caught Hill in an armbar in the opening round, and cranked on the limb until it appeared that Hill’s left arm was broken at the elbow.
Somehow though, referee Al Guinee failed to spot that Hill’s arm was swinging around like a piece of spaghetti as Craig attempted to secure a triangle choke, and allowed the fight to continue for far too long.
The referee eventually intervened, but by that point Hill's arm appeared to be thoroughly ruined.
It’s since emerged that Hill’s elbow was dislocated rather than broken, leaving him with a much less severe injury. However, quite how much damage was done following the dislocation – when Guinee should’ve stepped in – is anyone’s guess.
Overall, this was a senselessly late referee stoppage.
#2 Khalid Murtazaliev vs. CB Dollaway – UFC Fight Night 136
Many late referee stoppages stem from an official looking to give a fighter who’s been knocked down enough time to attempt a recovery.
However, the stoppage in the fight between Khalid Murtazaliev and CB Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 136 was simply criminal, and left fans wondering what referee Herb Dean was thinking.
The fight made it into the second round with Murtazaliev on top, and when he began to rain punches onto the downed Dollaway midway through the stanza, things looked all but over.
Eventually, Murtazaliev gained top control and continued to punish Dollaway, who could do nothing but roll onto his knees and attempt to cover up.
But despite 'The Doberman' not defending intelligently, Dean decided to let things continue, allowing Dollaway to take a horrendous beating until the buzzer sounded to end the round.
Unsurprisingly, Dollaway was unable to even make it back to his corner – finally forcing Dean to step in and stop the fight. But quite how the beating was allowed to go on until that point was simply mind-boggling.
Dollaway has not won a fight since.
#3 Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert – UFC Fight Island 3
The stoppage in the lightweight clash between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert in 2020 was so bad that incensed UFC color commentator Dan Hardy ended up confronting referee Herb Dean after the fight was over.
The fight was already a back-and-forth one, and the fact that Trinaldo had recovered from a serious knockdown in the second round may well have swayed Dean’s thinking when it came to the eventual end.
Early into the third round, 'Massaranduba' caught Herbert with a huge left hand that connected squarely to his head.
Herbert’s equilibrium appeared to be destroyed, and after a delayed reaction, he fell to the ground and looked stiff.
However, Dean somehow decided the UK fighter wasn’t done – and despite Trinaldo looking reluctant, he was forced to land a further four hammer fists before the official stepped in.
Given that the stoppage was arguably Dean’s second one of the show – he’d already stepped in late during Tanner Boser’s win over Raphael Pessoa – it was hardly surprising to see Hardy angrily confront the veteran ref, telling him “I’m doing my job, now you do yours!”
Whether Hardy was right to step in is debatable, but it’s hard to deny that this stoppage was dangerously late.
#4 Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva – UFC Fight Night 95
One of the UFC’s most stringent rules is that a fighter should never put his or her hands on an official, but Roy Nelson broke that rule at UFC Fight Night 95.
Big Country kicked referee John McCarthy in the backside following his win over Antonio Silva, but in many ways the kick was entirely justified.
It was surprising that Nelson and Silva – good friends outside the octagon – had agreed to fight in the first place. And so when Nelson dropped Silva with an uppercut in the second round, naturally, he didn’t really want to land any follow-up shots.
But McCarthy decided that Bigfoot wasn’t quite done – essentially forcing Nelson to land four or five largely pointless blows on his unconscious opponent, before kicking McCarthy out of frustration when he finally did step in.
Nelson would later apologize for the kick, but did state that he didn’t regret it – saying that it “hurt (me) that I’ve got to keep on hitting a guy that doesn’t need to be hit”.
#5 Mike Perry vs. Danny Roberts – UFC 204
When local favorite Danny Roberts fought Mike Perry at UFC 204 in Manchester, England, he was hoping to pull off an upset win.
Roberts was unable to do so, having been largely outgunned by Perry from the start of the fight, and unfortunately, to rub salt into his wounds his night ended with a terribly late referee stoppage.
The third round saw Perry drop Roberts with a knee to the head and a right hook, and almost as soon as he hit the deck, it was clear that 'Hot Chocolate' was done.
But Marc Goddard – a veteran UFC referee – clearly wasn’t convinced, and allowed Perry to follow up with some brutal punches before he finally stepped in.
Interestingly, Goddard later recognized and admitted to his mistake, stating that it “(breaks) my heart to think that a fighter had incurred even one shot they shouldn’t have”.
It was a rare statement from a UFC referee regarding a gaffe, and showed Goddard’s class – even if it was a little too late to help Roberts.
