5 Most Controversial Moments In UFC

Referees have the hardest job in the game second to the fighters, responsible for policing law in a shootout. Rules we've come to expect around gouging and low blows that seem obvious to us from outside the fence can be missed without a replay or two. Those decisions are the tip of the iceberg and it's incidents we cannot see which earn big fish like Dan Miragliotta, John McCarthy and Herb Dean their titles of best in the world. They've gone from being unable to stop a fight for anything less than a finish like a VIP spectator, to both hands on the wheel, protecting the fighters from themselves.

In Ben Askren’s UFC debut, the stakes were sky high. This was set to be the answer to the question on a lot of people's tongues: can the undefeated wrestling phenom hang with the best mixed martial artists in the world? A test like Robbie Lawler seemed like a pretty cruel one straight out of retirement, especially considering the first few moments of the fight which saw Ben bloodied early and almost finished. Luckily, he managed to turn around the position and choke Robbie out.

Apparently.

As Ben celebrates, Lawler pops straight back up to protest Herb Dean's stoppage with the awareness you would not attribute to a reawakening fighter. In later conversation, Herb has conceded that Robbie may not have been unconscious, but it is imperative for him to consider things us fans simply would not. In this instance, the type of submission and threat to a fighter's long-term health were paramount; there were many more elements at play despite the obvious.

Robbie gracefully offered his apologies to the veteran ref immediately after the fight, commenting on just how difficult it is to be in there and make those tough decisions look good to us bloodthirsty pedestrians.