Old school types remember this fight and the controversy – some said Sperry only tapped with a half tap, others said the referee confused Sperry wiping blood off his face with a tap and other said the ref just didn’t know enough about groundfighting to know Sperry wasn’t actually in danger.
But I just found out the referee was Gokor fucking Chivichyan! A man who definitely knows what a tap is AND when a fighter is in danger! Now I’m not sure what to think of this fight. He might also be a man who wasn’t going tolerate a Brazilian fake tap and called it. Or maybe he favoured the Sambo guy just a little bit, back when dojo storming and style rivalries were a thing? I don’t know.
People who know Gokor, has he ever talked about this match?
Well, he didn’t complain & put his hand on the mat in a kind of tap way. Didn’t look like a normal move my hand to the mat for position thing. I wonder if he said something to the ref while “tapping” making it more clear to stop?
Ha I remember watching that fight & it was before I really knew who Sak was. Then after his big Pride showings going back & finding the situation funny in hindsight.
Haha, same here. It was very confusing and his corner naturally spoke little to no english. Sak goes down for his soon to be trademark single leg into top position. Crazy how they negotiated a rematch same next. That would never happen and probably is illegal now.
Not a tap. Seemed like Sperry thought the fight was stopped because of his cut. The way he checked it again after the stoppage made it seem like he thought it might be a bad cut.
I trained at Hayastan MMA for like 2-3 months. I dont even remember this fight. Regardless I think hes a man of integrity. His one hour classes would go on for hours. He probably does have a bias though.
I remember loving that fight. The stoppage was wierd as hell but sperry didnt protest.
Its interesting to see how the knowledge base has changed. Rewatching the saku conan match its so obvious saku was fine in their first encounter. People,including the professional staff, often just didnt know what they were looking at back then.
Sperry was one of the most laid back fighters ever. Dude looked like he was ready to fall asleep when they were doing the intros. I don’t think he was the type of guy to throw a dramatic fit and protest if he disagreed with a stoppage.
Jiri’s tap on Glover’s leg this weekend when he was mounted and getting pounded should be more of a conversation than Sperry’s alleged tap. He touched the mat once… :-\
