Jon Anik was as confused as the remainder of us watching Steven Nguyen put a protracted beatdown on Mohammad Yahya at UFC Abu Dhabi.
Nguyen set a UFC report by scoring six knockdowns (although there gave the impression to be at the very least yet another than the official quantity) in opposition to Yahya en path to a dominant second-round knockout, which was solely known as on the very finish of the interval on account of a health care provider stoppage. Followers and fighters had been fast to query referee Jason Herzog not stepping in to save lots of Yahya earlier.
On his Anik & Florian podcast, Anik defined why he’s one of many many voices criticizing Herzog.
“What are we doing within the type of fighter security?” Anik mentioned. “Possibly I ought to name my pal Jason Herzog, who I actually do love, ‘Hey Jason, it’s Jon. Are you able to do a me a favor and simply cease the battle?’ There’s quite a bit to unpack right here. … Jason Herzog was the referee for [Daniel] Zellhuber and [Esteban] Ribovics and in the event you hear nothing else I say at the moment, I don’t know if I used to be suggestive on the printed that that battle ought to have been stopped at one time limit, however I believed Zellhuber ought to have type of been saved to possibly stay to battle one other day, and the outcome was that Herzog relatively masterfully let the battle play out and the outcome was the Battle of the 12 months.
“However my thesis all the time is what are we doing within the type of fighter security? The ends don’t justify the means if there’s a rally and a Battle of the 12 months ensues. Simply because Mohammad Yahya doesn’t have an orbital fracture doesn’t imply that heretofore he’s not going to pay dearly for this.”
On the decision with Felder for UFC Abu Dhabi had been commentators and former UFC fighters Paul Felder and Michael Bisping. The 2 have been in loads of wars themselves, however even they questioned what the restrict was for the quantity of punishment Yahya could be allowed to endure.
“Paul Felder mentioned in the direction of the tip of Spherical 2, ‘This battle’s not going to proceed, proper? As a result of finally a doctor’s going to get entangled right here,’” Anik mentioned. “Bisping first known as for a possible stoppage due to all of the knockdowns on the two-and-a-half minute mark precisely of Spherical 1, and I do consider we’re not assessing concussive injury stay within the minute, however after myriad knockdowns—I’m not saying there needs to be a knockdown rule in blended martial arts, nevertheless it does exist for a cause, however after six or seven of those f*cking issues, we will cease the battle.”
Sadly for Herzog, that is the second time in two weeks he’s been the topic of criticism from the MMA group, as a number of fighters additionally known as him out for stopping the UFC Nashville foremost occasion too early. Herzog ended that battle in simply 35 seconds as Derrick Lewis was battering Tallison Teixeira, who was illegally grabbing the fence with each fingers to attempt to recuperate.
Anik sympathizes with Herzog, who’s coping with the blame for 2 reverse sorts of errors.
“You’re damned in the event you do, you’re damned in the event you don’t,” Anik mentioned. “All of them join collectively. We are able to suppose again to Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry. I simply suppose, Kevin MacDonald, a whole lot of early stoppages in his profession as a referee and I’ve mentioned repeatedly that as a ref you will be universally praised—I assume not universally, however the consensus goes to reward you in the event you let a battle go lengthy and chaos Battle-of-the-12 months-type shit ensues.
“You’re going to be roundly criticized in the event you cease a battle too early, particularly in an enormous setting like a foremost occasion or a title battle.”
As for Yahya’s nook, Anik doesn’t suppose they need to be absolved of duty both.
“A lot,” Anik mentioned when requested how a lot blame Yahya’s nook ought to obtain. “And it’s most likely disgrace on me for not acknowledging their culpability in all of this. I don’t know. For the sake of the present, I watched it, and I don’t know if I’m being significantly reactionary proper now, nevertheless it was not good. Not good.
“What number of knockdowns—like, I don’t suppose we want a three-knockdown rule in MMA, however how about this, in the event you get knocked down 5 instances in an MMA spherical, do you suppose it’s truthful that they cease the battle?”
