This past weekend at NAGA, my friend was fighting. Had a triangle on his opponent (however, the ref was looking in the OTHER direction at another fight). His opponent verbally tapped by saying "AHHH, TAP TAP TAP!". My friend let go of the triangle and the arm (had the armlock as well). The ref turns around and my friend is looking up at the ref, the ref says "What?" ... my friend said "He said tap". Get this, his opponent says "I DIDN'T SAY TAP, I JUST SAID AHHHHH". Like my boy would just LET GO of a deep triangle for NO reason. So, with 15 seconds left in the match and my friend down 2 pts the ref positions them back in the triangle and his opponent just held out for 15 seconds to win.
NEXT TIME ... BREAK HIS ARM or PUT HIM TO SLEEP! Evidently it doesn't pay to be the honest/moral competitor.
Breaking someone's arm in a grappling match isn't cool, but then again I hope that ref never gets a chance to ref again, that's some serious boooooolsheeeet right there!
I certainly would have choked the guy out though, no harm done with that.
Fuck that, I don't let go unless the ref stops me(because of stuff like this). It is your responsability to tap if you get caught. If you don't it is your own fault that you get hurt. I will tap in an instant if I am caught and can't escape. My instructor says all the time at tourneys don't stop till the ref says to, or I say to!
i dont cheat in grappling matches. Hopefully in exchange for that nobody will break my arm. if you cheat like that next time the guy gets a hold of your arm he is going to hurt you.
this happened with one of chris brennan's fights in pride, didn't it? he had an armbar on some japanese fighter who tapped in a position where the ref couldn't see it, brennan let the hold go, and when asked, the japanese fighter stood there like a mute....the fight was re-started and brennan won with a submission on the same arm if i remember right....but the lesson is this: make the ref stop the fight...period....you don't have to crank the hell out of an armbar, but hold it tight enough until the ref stops it
A thought: maybe your buddy misheard the kid, maybe the kid really did not say tap. This is why there are refs. Keep cranking until the ref pulls you off. If it was tight enough to make the dude vocalize, just a little more pressure would cause him to scream. The ref would have heard that.
If the dude did say tap and denied it, that is no class. To him I say, pussy.
Stopping when someone taps is a mistake. A mistake many people make. But you only do it once.
Sorry to say but at a competition you need to tap early if you are going to tap. Factor in the time needed for the referee to see it and respond.
Competition has risks. These guys aren't your friends. They aren't your training partners. They are obstacles. And you sign a waiver because the risk of injury is higher at competition.
In a bjj match, the guy who let go of the triangle did the right thing. Too bad the opponent was a liar & a cheat, that happens, don't sweat it, life & karma catch up with those guys.
Imagine if it was your friend who did the cheating to win the match, and you saw it. What would you say to him after the match? I'd lose respect for him and tell him he did the wrong thing. Would you?
In a UFC match, hopefully the ref is paying attention, so then the fighter should wait for ref intervention.