I'm not a Pride hater, and in fact look forward to every event, but sometimes I have to shake my head.
What was with the time-out in the crocop/silva fight?
I mean, I can see having a doctor check out a fighter after a stand-up, but if the doc needs to look at the fighter for more than a few seconds to figure out if he can continue, he can't continue.
Instead, there were about 5 people up on the apron with Silva. They were not just treating his eye, but trying to get the swelling down. And they took about 5 minutes checking him. The one guy with his finger up for Silva to follow did it more than once.
It was just silly.
If a doctor checks you after a break, that's a good thing. Treatment is for between rounds. But a big fat honking break which lets a fighter recover from being rocked for a few minutes is ridiculous.
I understand that they want a good fight, but you can't use a doctor's check to rescue a fight or a fighter.
"i find it funny when refs ask fighters "u give up!?"
Yeah why do they do that? If they tapp out they tapp out but no need to fuck with their minds when they are in alot of pain and anguish during the fight.
Also did you guys see the part where the ref stood CC and Silva up? Silva was spitting blood and fighting for his life... the ref was about to hand him a yellow card for stalling when Mirko approached the ref and pushed him away for not being a little bit more respectful.
It was a ridiculously long stoppage. Crocop could have gone back to his dressing room, took a nap, made sweet love to his wife, and then came back and finish the fight.
However, if the doctors would have stopped the fight there, it would have been anticlimactic and made for a less than stellar fight. Everybody wanted to see the fight continue, and I for one, am glad it did.
Generally Pride refs will take their time. There are several ringside refs and docs, and its a cultural thing in Japan to not rush and to let everybody give their opinion. Add that too the language barrier and thats just the way it is.
I dont see any "protection" conspiracy. The fight had hit a decent lull/stall point when they checked on Silva. Protecting him would have been stopping the action mid-Crocop hammer fist flurry.
My point is not that there was a huge pro-Silva conspiracy, nor that it affected the outcome of the fight.
However, long pauses for a hurt fighter severely skew fights to the side of the submission rather than gnp.
Example: Crocop had him dazed, cut, and dominated from GNP. They gave Silva a huge rest to recoup. Juxtapose that with a sub fighter who has dominant position and is wearing his opponent out grinding and pressuring. When they finally stand that up, do they give the bottom figher a 5 min break to check his ribs?
The refs are there to protect the integrity of the fight and the safety of the fighter. These two are not mutually exclusive in a properly reffed competition. However, tending a fighter's injuries mid-round (unless from an illegal technique) while letting him recoup from being rocked, compromises the integrity of the fight.
I prefer to see Cro Cop knocking out his opponent over the ref stopping the fight. If they stopped the fight for bogus reasons, I'm fine with the outcome.