McCarthy: Slice didn't tap in Ken Shamrock fight

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                            <h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=452724" target="_blank">
                                McCarthy: Slice didn't tap in Ken Shamrock fight

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                    <p>As soon as the fight between Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock ended, several threads popped up on the Underground speculating that Slice had indeed tapped as Shamrock applied a rear-naked choke in the beginning of the first round.</p>

Watching the replay shows that Kimbo definitely moved his hands to the mat and almost in a position to tap, but referee John McCarthy confirmed that what he saw as the guy closest to the action was not a tap:

McCarthy told MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani that he and Slice spoke about a potential tap backstage before Bellator 138 in St. Louis. Referees meet with fighters for rules meetings before the event and during that conversation Slice told McCarthy he would not tap.

"So, I went over what would make me stop the fight," McCarthy said.

What Slice did, putting both hands to the floor in a near-tap while Shamrock had him in a rear-naked choke, did not fit the criteria of what McCarthy and Slice discussed, the godfather of MMA referees said. Many pundits online posted the gif of the sequence and came to the conclusion that he tapped out. Not so, McCarthy said.

"His hands came out during the choke, but he would have had to have made more of a continuous motion for me to say he was tapping," McCarthy said. "In my opinion, that was a fighter contemplating tapping and then working through it."

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Yep, 100% agree.

Tapping is when you tap more than once in rapid succession. One movement of the arm or hand is not a tap.

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Nytron - Yep, 100% agree.

Tapping is when you tap more than once in rapid succession. One movement of the arm or hand is not a tap.

Single taps are reserved only for the all-time greats like Fedor!

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There are times where we've seen single taps, but it is usually a pretty distinct tap with some power. As opposed to hands flailing, a.k.a. Brazilian tap.

Comes down to referee discretion.

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fedor didnt tap, he swatted a mosquito on the floor

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Same tap Fedor used, and I think BJM was the ref for that one too. Phone Post 3.0

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No, it's not the same tap fedor used. See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuhXYiPf5VU&t=1m18s

Fedor did one contemplation tap that grazed Werdum's shorts, and then immediately after did a big 'ol powerful slap tap right on Werdum's shorts. A very clear distinct tap.

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Does that mean BJM was 'in on it'? Phone Post 3.0

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didn't for a second think it was a tap.

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Imagine how confusing it would get if a single touch indicated a tape FFS. Of course what Kimbo did wasn't a tap. It was maybe the BEGINNING of a tap, or an attempt to fake tap, but it wasn't a tap and I'm glad John saw that.