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Any fighter who steps into the UFC naturally comes under tremendous pressure. However, it’s arguable that the referees officiating inside the octagon are under just as much.
It’s the job of the referee to ensure that each UFC fight is officiated fairly and safely. Unfortunately, mistakes do happen.
Worse still, some of these mistakes are so egregious that not only can they cause a fight to have an incorrect outcome, but they can also put the safety of the UFC’s fighters under threat.
With that considered, here are five times that referees have made outrageous errors in UFC fights.
#5. Yves Lavigne – Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell (UFC 96)
While early referee stoppages are obviously frustrating for the fighters involved, it’s definitely arguable that late referee stoppages are much worse. Not only can a late referee stoppage see a fighter take a needless beating, perhaps doing damage to their future career hopes, but they also make the UFC look needlessly barbaric, too.
There have been plenty of terrible late referee stoppages in UFC history. Arguably the worst came in the welterweight clash between Matt Brown and Pete Sell at UFC 96.
Not only did referee Yves Lavigne stop this fight far too late, allowing poor Sell to take a multitude of needless strikes, but to make matters worse, he appeared to change his mind midway through the clash, causing confusion for both combatants.
Realistically, the fight should’ve been over in the first minute. Brown opened up on Sell with punches, sending him crashing to the ground. It hardly came as a surprise when Lavigne appeared to step in. However, as Brown began to stop his onslaught, the Canadian official bizarrely decided to change his mind, shouting “go, go, go!” as Sell attempted to get back to his feet.
However, ‘Drago’ was clearly done and simply wilted under more strikes from Brown, who seemed stunned that the fight hadn’t been stopped. Moments later, Lavigne finally did step in, but only after Brown literally bounced Sell’s head off the mat with two more punches. It was a truly scary finish to a bizarre fight, made possible by an outrageous error from Lavigne.
Read here: Everything to know about UFC Referees
#4. John McCarthy – Murilo Bustamante vs. Matt Lindland (UFC 37)
‘Big’ John McCarthy is usually recognized as the best referee in MMA history and to have officiated in the UFC. He made his first appearance in the octagon at UFC 2 and, over the years, he’s officiated some of the biggest fights in the promotion’s history.
However, even greats like ‘Big John’ can make mistakes. His most egregious took place at UFC 37 and could well have cost a champion his title had things gone slightly differently.
The fight in question saw Murilo Bustamante defend his UFC middleweight title against top contender Matt Lindland in a highly anticipated bout.
However, as the fight began, it became clear that Bustamante was far more skilled than his opponent. The Brazilian appeared to have Lindland finished when he applied a picture-perfect armbar.
‘The Law’ seemed to tap out to the hold and McCarthy stepped in to stop the fight. However, once he’d separated the fighters, Lindland claimed that he hadn’t tapped and, somehow, ‘Big John’ was sold.
He decided to restart the fight, confusing Bustamante hugely and leaving him looking disheartened and potentially vulnerable to an attack from Lindland. Thankfully though, justice was served. Bustamante regrouped in the second round and continued to dominate ‘The Law’ before submitting him with a guillotine choke in the third round.
This time there was no question around the submission and when McCarthy stepped in, the fight was declared over for good. Quite how he’d gotten so confused in the first round, however, remains anyone’s guess, making this one of the worst referee gaffes in UFC history.
#3. Eduardo Herdy – Leandro Silva vs. Drew Dober (UFC Fight Night 62)
It takes a serious referee error to force one of the various athletic commissions overseeing the UFC to overturn a result and declare a no contest. However, that’s exactly what happened in the fight between Leandro Silva and Drew Dober at UFC Fight Night 62.
The fight was refereed by an inexperienced official, Brazilian Eduardo Herdy, who had rarely been seen in the UFC prior to this event. Based on his performance here, it was easy to understand why.
After a close first round, the second saw Dober taken down by Silva, who then attempted to lock up a guillotine choke after a scramble. However, the choke didn’t look tight and Dober quickly moved into the Brazilian’s half-guard and began to work to free his head from the hold.
Incredibly though, just as Dober appeared to have popped his head free, Herdy stepped in to call off the fight, apparently believing that Silva had choked his foe unconscious.
Naturally, confusion followed, before Dober was left irate once he realized what’d happened. Quite how Herdy had believed he’d passed out was anyone’s guess, as he was clearly still moving and there was no hint of a tapout, either.
Thankfully, the fight was eventually declared a no contest by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission and Dober was even paid his win bonus by the UFC, which somewhat made up for this serious refereeing mistake.
#2: Vyacheslav Kiselev – Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 267)
The most recent entry on this list took place this past weekend at UFC 267. In a similar vein to some of the UFC’s other bad refereeing errors, it involved a largely inexperienced official. In this case, it was Russia’s Vyacheslav Kiselev.
Kiselev was placed in charge of the welterweight bout between UFC veteran Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and octagon debutant Benoit Saint Denis. After a relatively close first round, it quickly became clear that the newcomer was out of his depth.
‘Capoeira’ began to open up on Saint Denis with a myriad of strikes. At one point, the newcomer could do nothing else but cover up. Somehow though, Kiselev decided to let the fight continue. Incredibly, the Frenchman survived the round.
Worse was still to come. Early in the third round, an errant eye poke landed for dos Santos. While Kiselev did call time, he ignored Saint Denis’ pleas that he couldn’t see and didn’t even call a doctor into the octagon.
Zaleski dos Santos continued his onslaught from there. Bizarrely, he even lost a point when Kiselev decided to penalize him for an accidental low blow. Somehow, the fight went the distance, essentially horrifying everyone watching and leaving them fearing for Saint Denis’ health.
Suffice to say, the UFC were not impressed with the referee’s performance and subsequently removed him from officiating duties for the rest of the card. After such an outrageous error, it seems unlikely we’ll see him in the UFC again.
#1. Steve Mazzagatti – Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill (TUF 10 Finale)
Arguably the greatest refereeing gaffe in UFC history remains infamous over a decade on, largely because it caused Jon Jones to suffer his first and, to date, only loss in MMA.
Jones was faced with the toughest test of his UFC career to that point in the form of Matt Hamill, a highly rated amateur wrestler who’d developed a dangerous boxing and clinch game, too. However, showing off the skills that would eventually lead him to the UFC light heavyweight title, ‘Bones’ showed no respect for Hamill’s wrestling. He threw him to the ground like a ragdoll early in the first round.
Jones quickly advanced into full mount and with Hamill clearly stuck on his back, he began to open up with a series of brutal punches and elbows that cut ‘The Hammer’ wide open. The fight was clearly over, but referee Steve Mazzagatti allowed Jones to continue abusing his opponent, until he threw what was apparently an illegal downward elbow.
Mazzagatti finally stepped in, taking a point from Jones for the infraction. However, it was immediately clear that Hamill was badly hurt. Seemingly ignoring the fact that Hamill was deaf, Mazzagatti verbally asked him whether he could continue. Unsurprisingly, Hamill didn’t answer and so Mazzagatti waved the fight off, seemingly in favor of Jones.
Incredibly, though, when the official result was announced, it transpired that Mazzagatti had actually disqualified ‘Bones’. He'd felt the illegal elbows, not the brutal shots that preceded them, had caused Hamill to be unable to continue.
To say this was ridiculous would be an understatement. Firstly, Mazzagatti should’ve stopped the fight when it was clear that Hamill could not defend himself. Secondly, why would he verbally ask a deaf fighter if he could continue?
Essentially, this fight should’ve gone down as a TKO win for Jones. The fact that it stands on his record as a disqualification loss says more about this outrageous refereeing error than it does anything else.
