6 Ups And 2 Down's From UFC 251

8. Down: MMA Refereeing Strikes Again

It seems the training of MMA referees continues to be a problem in the sport, as once more a late stoppage tainted the end of a brilliant fight.

Earlier in the night, Marc Goddard made a big statement after Roman Bogatov landed three illegal strikes in the space of two rounds and deducted two points from the fighter. It was a welcome bit of refereeing and in a three-round fight it is essentially sentencing a fighter to a loss unless they remain perfect.

However, in the bantamweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Petr Yan, Aldo was in serious trouble at the end of the fourth round, then ten seconds into the fifth Yan leveled him to the floor and started viciously beating the legend.

Aldo was not defending himself from the ground and pound, he was merely surviving but the onslaught continued despite commentator Michael Bisping and most of the MMA world pleading for it to stop.

Around a minute or two later than it should have, referee Leon Roberts finally stepped in and mercifully prevented further punishment. The image of a beaten and bloody Aldo lying on the floor was disturbing however, as Yan landed 113 strikes on the poor man that weren't needed.

It was an uncomfortable moment and another sign that regular retraining of referees in this area is required.