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Rising light heavyweight contender Paul Craig and Dana White's Contender Series alum Jamahal Hill opened the main card for UFC 263 with a short-lived but exciting scrap.
Paul Craig ended up finishing Jamahal Hill within two minutes of the first round, but the stoppage from referee Al Guinee came a few seconds too late, according to several MMA fans and experts alike.
The two fighters went to the ground right after the opening exchange, where Paul Craig managed to get hold of Jamahal Hill's arm in a hyperextension and the latter's arm quite visibly snapped and flailed around in a way an arm should not.
However, the referee failed to notice the injury and allowed the fight to go on for a little longer before stepping in.
The MMA community was quick to start criticizing the late stoppage on social media. Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole pointed out that Al Guinee is a BJJ instructor himself, which makes the situation even more unfortunate.
Also Read: 5 dangerously late referee stoppages in recent UFC history
Chael Sonnen: Corners get very scared to do that
Speaking with Glenn Bell on his show, Chael Sonnen gave his opinion on the incident.
It's important to note that he agrees with the fact that the referee indeed made a mistake and the following comments made by him are only to offer an alternate perspective on the matter.
"I think we're wrong to guess - one, that the referee didn't see it - what if he did see it and it didn't matter? What if? If the arm is already dislocated and it cannot get any worse, and the athlete says - and he's saying it by not saying 'tap' - he says I want to keep going. Is it the job of the referee to stop it?"
Chael Sonnen also detailed why Jamahal Hill's corner did not step in and throw in the towel.
He brought up the example of Deontay Wilder firing his cornerman after the latter stopped the second fight against Tyson Fury, saying incidents such as this have made cornermen hesitant to throw in towels in recent years.
"Corners get very scared to do that. There used to be a lot more towels thrown in, in both boxing and in MMA. But the last meaningful fight where corner threw in the towel, was Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury part II, and Deontay Wilder fired the cornerman in the locker room - that night."
Chael Sonnen also brought up the time when Jon Jones broke his toe in a fight against him at UFC 159. Even though the injury did not come to light until after the fight was over and Jones had won, Chael Sonnen revealed that 'Bones' said he would have continued even if the referee or his corner decided to step in.
Watch the full explanation by Chael Sonnen below:
Jamahal Hill shares injury update post-UFC 263
Even though it was hard to believe for the onlookers, given how gruesome the armbar looked, Jamahal Hill fortunately walked away from it with only dislocation and no bone break.
Dana White confirmed at the post-event press conference that Jamahal Hill's arm was not broken and that doctors managed to 'pop it back in'.
'Sweet Dreams' regained full motion of the limb soon afterwards and provided an update himself on social media.
Jamahal Hill was later seen partying with his opponent, making it clear that there was no bad blood between himself and Paul Craig.
