NSAC to probe Rohskopf's corner not stopping

Underground
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Lightweight Max Rohskopf went into his short-notice, big show debut at UFC on ESPN 11 on Saturday night with a perfect 5-0 record, all inside the distance. However, after two hards rounds Austin Hubbard, he called it on the stool. In fact, he called it nine times, but his corner, grappling great and 7-0 pro MMA fighters Robert Drysdale wasn't having it.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1274471524087427072

NSAC inspector Charvez Foger heard directly from Rohskopf that he didn't want to fight, and the bout was officially ended via retirement after Round 2. Drysdale received a monster degree of criticism for not heeding his fighter's expressed wishes, and defended his cornering.

"I stand by what I did," said Drysdale to Ariel Helwani for ESPN. "I expect excellence from the people I train because I love them. He wasn't seriously hurt, and I felt he needed a mental push. I would expect the same from my coach. We will be back. Max is a champion."

"That is the job of a coach, to push their fighters physically, technically, and mentally. I did my job, and I have no regrets because I believe Max has potential to be one of the greats."

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett promised to look into it, and said a clip of the sequence had been sent to NSAC chief inspector Alex Ybarra.

"That's something we will take a look at," said Bennett. "We might want to take disciplinary action on them. That doesn't sound like they are looking out for a fighter. Obviously, he didn't want to come out."

"It may come up in a future hearing. We will take an official look at it."

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they did stop it... they just gave him every single chance to push forward.

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Wayne Glamcock - 

they did stop it... they just gave him every single chance to push forward.

They stopped it only because the commission overheard him saying he didn’t want to fight and told Herb Dean. Herb then went over and asked him if he wanted to continue and he said no. The corner did nothing.

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Naazim Richardson did the same thing to Shane Mosley. Shane wanted to quit,Naazim convinced him not to, telling him he is better than that. Shane ended up finishing the fight. Lost but still finished the fight.

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Bad matchup from the UFC to begin with UFC vet (11-4) vs (5-0) up and comer

Drysdale knows his fighter better than all of us and Max looked for sure like he needed a push from his coach because he was not that hurt or damaged

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I get that he may he needed a mental push but he said he wanted to quit too many times, he was too far gone 

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So basically a coach has to worry about being disciplined for urging their fighter not to embarrass himself by being a pussy?

I mean, if he was injured or really beat up it would be totally different. However, he quit after some good body shots and his opponent not wilting like they do in smaller organizations. I wouldn’t coach him any longer if I were Drysdale. 

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Every word spoken by the fighter during the break was geared toward stopping the fight.  There was no chance to change his mind.  He was done.  No sense sending a fighter out for another round with that mental condition. 

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MasterofMartialArts -
Wayne Glamcock - 

they did stop it... they just gave him every single chance to push forward.

They stopped it only because the commission overheard him saying he didn’t want to fight and told Herb Dean. Herb then went over and asked him if he wanted to continue and he said no. The corner did nothing.

guy never got off the stool. I guess the question is what they should do… fighter says stop, you say ok and wave it off? or wait to the very end? or?

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I would like to hear from Drysdale.

In my opinion Drysdale made a mistake, he should have listened to his fighter, his figher made it pretty clear that he wanted to quit.

I am hoping Drysdale will come out and say he made a mistake.

If he does that, I forgive him. If Drysdale does not see that he did anything wrong here… then NSAC might have to step in and tell him he did.

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SportScience -

I would like to hear from Drysdale.

In my opinion Drysdale made a mistake, he should have listened to his fighter, his figher made it pretty clear that he wanted to quit.

I am hoping Drysdale will come out and say he made a mistake.

If he does that, I forgive him. If Drysdale does not see that he did anything wrong here… then NSAC might have to step in and tell him he did.

people were bitching out smith’s corner for not stopping the beating from texeira but after, smith was fully agreed to what they did… of course, smith never asked for a stoppage. apples and oranges maybe… should NSAC investigate taht one?

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I'm on drysdales side here. A coaches job is to encourage and push their fighters, especially if they aren't taking lots of damage or if they aren't injured. He knows his fighters better than anyone else. The kid just didn't want to be in there and I doubt we'll see him in the UFC again.

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The Destroyer88 -

I'm on drysdales side here. A coaches job is to encourage and push their fighters, especially if they aren't taking lots of damage or if they aren't injured. He knows his fighters better than anyone else. The kid just didn't want to be in there and I doubt we'll see him in the UFC again.

bascially how I see it... didn't force him into the last round but might have been considering how this would likely be an end to his UFC run and wanted to give him every motivation and chance to push on. maybe - not inside their head

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I get Drysdale's point, but you can't send a guy out there who spent the whole break telling you he's done. Guy is checked out, that's where he'll get hurt

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stevekt -

Every word spoken by the fighter during the break was geared toward stopping the fight.  There was no chance to change his mind.  He was done.  No sense sending a fighter out for another round with that mental condition. 

Exactly! It was crystal clear he was done! I'd give his corner credit for trying to get him back I there but he was adamant he was done and the corner essentially ignored that. Smh! 

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KaiTangata -
stevekt -

Every word spoken by the fighter during the break was geared toward stopping the fight.  There was no chance to change his mind.  He was done.  No sense sending a fighter out for another round with that mental condition. 

Exactly! It was crystal clear he was done! I'd give his corner credit for trying to get him back I there but he was adamant he was done and the corner essentially ignored that. Smh! 

how was it ignored when he never got off the stool?

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Eskimo -

So basically a coach has to worry about being disciplined for urging their fighter not to embarrass himself by being a pussy?

I mean, if he was injured or really beat up it would be totally different. However, he quit after some good body shots and his opponent not wilting like they do in smaller organizations. I wouldn’t coach him any longer if I were Drysdale. 

You just embarrassed yourself by being a pussy. 

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quick question... can the corner throw in the towel during a round in teh UFC? 

see to remember something about that not being recognized?

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If fight fans would read up a little on Max’s story then they would know that he has come from a dysfunctional family and struggles with depression etc.

Robert Drysdale might know what makes Max tick and that Max may have just needed a push a little better than everyone else.

It all worked out though and the correct fighter won. Drysdale should not get fined or get in trouble though. Time to move on and look forward to Austin’s next fight!!

Max did quit and quit on himself but let’s be real, he took the fight short notice and should probably take some time off to re evaluate what he wants to do. Not that big of a deal especially since he took a short notice fight against a super tough guy

Robert Drysdale did his job perfectly as the coach and most likely knew that Max is a guy who had not seen much deep water being (5-0), was a self doubter and needed a push. He did his job as a coach.

While Mark Smith is probably the worst referee in the UFC overall, he did a good job tonight, in this fight and stopped it appropriately when the inspector told him too since you cannot throw in the towel. Max defeated himself with his own self doubt on the stool.

Get Max to a sports shrink ASAP and give him some time to heal up emotionally, learn to love himself and decide if he wants to move forward in MMA because from reading that article he came from a very broken home.

Guy is crazy talented but his worst enemy is obviously himself because Max did not really look that hurt from damage. To me, it looked like Max quit on himself but I do not fault him for this. I would never take a short notice fight against a super tough Austin Hubbard and 99.9% of MMA fans would not either.

He is super young and very talented and was only 5-0 in MMA.

Not sure Max will be back but honestly he made a fan out of me tonight for taking the fight short notice, in a matchup against a super tough way more experienced UFC vet.

For the record though, I was pulling for Austin and thought he was going to win due to his experience

From using Google, it looks like the corner can tell the inspector they want the fight stopped, who then alerts the referee to stop the fight which is what happened tonight. The towel cannot be thrown in the state of Nevada

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MayorPirkle -

I get Drysdale's point, but you can't send a guy out there who spent the whole break telling you he's done. Guy is checked out, that's where he'll get hurt

This exactly. It’s not about being injured or hurt badly. It’s about the mental condition of the fighter in the cage. I can’t believe we are nearly 30 years into this sport and we are still seeing an alarming number of posts saying “he’s a pussy” or “he wasn’t even hurt”.