Given the number of fighters who suffer a flash knockout and wake up when they hit the floor, it is very tough to back off when you think a guy is hurt. This is a hurting game; Yvel was doing his job. Refs job was to look out for the safety of the fighters, and by multiple accounts, that did not happen appropriately. Yvel was clearly worried for Pedro after the fight, but he was doing his job in the cage.
Gilbert Yvel is often cited as one the fighters who most often goes beyond the rules, but that was not the case here.
The ref was unbelievably late in the stoppage, but Yvel had to know that Rizzo was completely done after about the second punch. I agree that it is the ref who is at fault, but given Yvel's history, I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt either. He knew Pedro was finished, and had the option of letting up or at least glancing at the ref to give him a chance to stop it, which plenty of other fighters would have done, but he chose not to. Well within the rules, but still not like he was forced to do it.
Terra - ?? To blame? Nobodys to blame, it's a fight. People need to stop being sorry for the sport occasionally being violent. Honestly, I love ground and pound knockouts, they're rare but brilliantly brutal. Goodridge v Taktarov, Riggs v Grove...good shit.
iEminence - Technically true, but everyone prefers a fighter who stops when it's 100% obvious the other guy is out.
The ref was far more to blame for it than Yvel was.
It is stupid and professionally irresponsible for fighters to stop competing before the bell or the ref stops it.
Sorry, I disagree completely - we've seen many, many fighters stop as soon as they see the other fighter's lights turn out. How you can possibly think that stopping when the other fighter is clearly unconscious is beyond my comprehension.
Kirik - Given the number of fighters who suffer a flash knockout and wake up when they hit the floor, it is very tough to back off when you think a guy is hurt. This is a hurting game; Yvel was doing his job. Refs job was to look out for the safety of the fighters, and by multiple accounts, that did not happen appropriately. Yvel was clearly worried for Pedro after the fight, but he was doing his job in the cage.
Gilbert Yvel is often cited as one the fighters who most often goes beyond the rules, but that was not the case here.
My God.... I have disliked Yvel for years...I prayed for his destruction..... then I met him, then I spoke with him, then i watched him fight Rizzo, I saw his concern.... Yvel is not a maniac,not an asshole,Yvel is a really nice guy,humble guy, funny guy....
I'm a Rizzo fan and hope he's all good. I didn't see anything that would warrant the kind of reaction that some have. I dont think you can blame Yvel or the referee because Yvel was doing his job and the referee knows Pedro is a soldier which led to the referee giving him a little extra chance to recover.
Kirik - Given the number of fighters who suffer a flash knockout and wake up when they hit the floor, it is very tough to back off when you think a guy is hurt. This is a hurting game; Yvel was doing his job. Refs job was to look out for the safety of the fighters, and by multiple accounts, that did not happen appropriately. Yvel was clearly worried for Pedro after the fight, but he was doing his job in the cage.
Gilbert Yvel is often cited as one the fighters who most often goes beyond the rules, but that was not the case here.
Exactly right. Regardless of his reputation, Yvel did nothing wrong.
I just dont like Yvel!, the guy is always doing something stupid like hitting a ref or another fighter after the bell, and then he is trying to stuff his excuse down your neck.... I have heard he is an ok guy if you meet him, I dont know what gets in to him in the ring he just breaks all the rules like they dont aply to him. I mean what other sport can you get away with ko'ing the ref?.... and then be aloud to fight again?, jeeez he is an embarasment to the sport, which is a shame because he is a good fighter, its just he cant control himself... This fight is the same, he was out! many fighters will tell you that they can tell a guy is out when they hit him, it looked obvious to me he was out and he could have laid off the last two hard shots.... still its hard to say, the ref had some explaining to do too.