8 Most Controversial UFC Refereeing Decisions Of 2019

In the fight between Alex Oliveira and Nicolas Dalby, referee Rebin Saber made a multitude of curious choices that had you wondering if he'd ever seen an MMA fight before.

First off, both fighters stopped suddenly after Oliveira turned away from his opponent and stated he was poked in the eye. Rebin just went along with it, making it seem as though the fighters were calling the shots over the referee who was meant to be watching the action closely.

Then in Round 2, he issued a stand up when Dalby had top position for seemingly no reason, and taking away the advantage he had gained from the Brazilian knockout artist. This allowed 'Cowboy' to land some more strikes to the Dutchman that he would not have otherwise.

In Round 3, the referee then did the exact same thing to Oliviera. He grabbed Cowboy's arm mid-punch like an anime character to stop him dropping the bombs he was throwing, before once more standing a fighter up from the dominant position. It was as if he was saying sorry to everyone for the first time he did it.

This halted almost two minutes of control Cowboy had earned and Dalby would go on to win via unanimous decision. The strange choices tainted what was an uplifting UFC comeback win for Dalby and Oliviera's manager stated their intent to appeal.

Like all appeals in MMA, it ultimately went nowhere and now the fight remains a frustrating piece of MMA refereeing history.