10 UFC Rules That Fighters And Fans Get Wrong All The Time

2. Who Appoints The Referees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHSSNAz4Eec One of the issues that is usually on everybody's minds right now is the quality of officiating when it comes to MMA. There are complaints as to whether a fight was ended too early or whether it was stopped too late by the official in the ring or cage. At times people have to defend those officials actions or no one defends the actions. A common fan criticism is that the UFC needs to find better referees to officiate their fights. The problem with that statement is that the UFC does not have control of who officiates the fight unless the fights are in a commission free area. In the majority of cases the in cage officials are not assigned by the MMA promotion, but by the local overseeing commission. This can certainly be frustrating when an official such as Yves Lavinge or Steve Mazagatti is in the ring and makes a call that almost everybody disagrees with. It is also the reason why referees such as "Big" John McCarthy and Herb Dean are so much more appreciated by fans, fighters, promoters, and reporters alike as they are almost always on top of their game and make the best calls. A big example includes Herb Dean stopping the fight between Frank Mir and Tim Sylvia when he witnessed Sylvia's arm snapping at an angle no one else could see. As stated above, the UFC does select their officials mainly outside of North America but because of UFC Fight Pass the casual fan only watches a few of those matches.