I just watched AFC 13 and witnessed the worst mma reffing job ever.
i realize it's a tough job, but this guy clearly had no understanding of the sport whatsoever.
in one fight, the fighters were near the ropes. while the fight is still going on, he starts talking to the fighters, and waves his hands towards the center of the ring (which would have been funny, if people's health wasn't at risk).
in another fight, again, the fighter's were near the ropes. the ref actually touches the fighters and tells them to move in the ring. however, he doesn't actually tell the fighters to stop, and one guy applies an RNC resulting in the tap. the loser "Dave Strasser's guy" rightfully was upset.
these are just some examples. there were far more goof-ups, including questionable stoppage/restarts
where the hell does AFC find their refs. what was this guy, a TKD black belt? get him the fuck off the show!!!
not only is it unprofessional, but it's extremely dangerous to have refs who clearly have no understanding of the sport.
Charnos ref'd a fight between me and Trevor Lally (who happened to be from his gym). The rules were kind of a cross between UFC and Pnacrase you could punch but once on the ground you could only slap the face. It was in a ring and if you were put into a submission and tried to throw the guy out of the ring it was considered the same as tapping. In the first 5 seconds of my fight with Lally I got knocked down (I was OUT) and he jumped on top and started pounding on my face. I somehow recovered enough (I don't remember any of it but I've seen the video) to get him down and put him in a triangle where he immediately picks me up and puts me outside of the ropes. Charnos seperates us and tells us to keep going.
When I fought Charlie Pearson Derobio was the ref and we were fighting under the exact same rules as above and I had Pearson in a triangle and he was pushing me into the ropes and the ref actually lifted the ropes so I slid out onto the judges table. The ref the stands us up and restarts us.
I know that reffing is a thankless job but not knowing the rules at all is inexcusable.
Who was that guy in early UFC that would say everything twice in an annoying, monotone voice? I think he reffed the Din Thomas fight with .....fuck I don't remember his name. But it was this little white dude and Din Thomas was getting bashed around, looked half out on his feet and the ref stopped it. Not a bad call IMO, just the ref was annoying and repetitive.
I fought at an event, about 8 years ago) where my buddy also fought. The ref told my friend, "If you get the guy in a submission, let me know". I actually ended up getting screwed in a fight that night. I caught the guy in a sub with a few seconds left. He tapped with his hands and then began stomping his feet. They let him stomp for about the last 5 seconds of the fight and then called it a draw (no judges).
I'm very sorry that sometimes the refs will do a bad job, but the people at the AFC does not select them, they are selected by the Florida State Boxing Commission.
In their defense I will say that they are getting better and better every time, however believe me it drives me nuts sometimes having to look at them ref fights. But they are very open to seminars, which they have done, constructive criticism, and changes.
MMA lady beat me to the punch... Cecil Peoples is the worst. I mean you'd think at this point he'd have learned SOMETHING about the sport, but no, he's still terrible.