In the main event of UFC 245, then Interim welterweight champ Colby Covington lost to champ Kamaru Usman, with less than a minute in the fifth round. Covington complained bitterly about referee Marc Goddard's stoppage, who was then subjected to a cesspool of criticism, including death threats, and lunatic charges that he was paid off.
Goddard held his tongue for weeks, but after two months, during a recent episode of his “LISTEN!” podcast with co-host Dan Hardy, Goddard strikes back, calling Covington's kvetching “totally and utterly inappropriate, abusive,” and “threatening.”
”That fight was 24 minutes long,” said Goddard as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMA Fighting. “[Covington] was getting beat up, and beating up. Some judge had it 2-2. That was a competitive fight. Those first four rounds were competitive, and the fifth round started competitive.
”Then Kamaru started to get the upper hand, and then he stung him a few times, and then there was the first knockdown, and then was the second knockdown. All this is real-time worrying in my mind. I am aware of the clock. I don’t want to stop the fight. I want this fight to go the distance. You’ve had 24 minutes of war for the highest prize in the sport from two A-line athletes. What’s not to respect? What’s not to understand? But I’m seeing things unfold, and I see Colby get put down twice in rapid order. Plus, 24 minutes of back-and-forth before that, so there’s a lot of damage sustained.
”Then I see him go down, and he stays in that turtle position, started on the [double leg], then he’s pulling his hands back. This is where everything will narrow in for me. I’m now firmly put in the spotlight. I have a decision to make, and I’m trying to assess this. I have to assess this real-time, coupled with everything I saw. People talk about the back of the head. They haven’t got a f***ing clue what back of the head is. Not a clue. I’m not even going to go there. Because what you think is the back of the head is not the back of the head.”
”I know he’s hurt. I know he’s not out; he’s hurt, which is why you see when he gets knocked down, I run in, I see him reacting, I move back. The second knockdown, you close the distance, he reacts, I move back. Then the shots start coming in. This is where things narrow down for me. I have to make a choice, one way or another.
”Could I have let that fight go on? Yeah. Could have I stood back and let it go on? Yeah. Should I have let it? And that’s the narrative here. Should I have? And this is the point I make when I’m assessing what happened, I’m assessing the position he’s in, the two knockdowns, he’s being punched. I don’t want to leave him. My trigger’s pulled.
”My job is to protect you, and regardless of you getting up and telling me you’re fine at that point, it’s over.”
”Apparently, when a ref wants to speak, when a ref wants to make things better, you want to be famous and you want the camera, so I can’t win either way. And you know, people go about the referee, like, ‘He interjects himself in the fight.’ Yeah, because that’s my f***ing job, you idiot.”