One of the most bizarre referee stoppages in recent memory took place last night at the UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare event in Rio de Janeiro, as Drew Dober was handed a submission loss on his record even though he clearly had not tapped to the half-hearted guillotine choke attempt.
In fact, his opponent Leandro Silva’s guillotine attempt was from half guard, which made it an even less threatening submission hold, albeit an uncomfortable one all the same. Nonetheless, it was certainly not tight enough to force Dober to tap.
“The stoppage was extremely confusing,” Dober said after the fight. “He wasn’t choking me. He was in a position that would have been extremely impossible to finish. When the ref jumped in and tried to stop it I was extremely confused and continued fighting.
“It happened the way it happened.”
Dober simply could not understand what went wrong. He informed the referee that he did not tap, yet ultimately still decided to put an end to the proceedings.
“He asked if I tapped and I said no. He asked my opponent and my opponent said yes, so that’s how it went. He was squeezing my base really hard but I was actually just defending his grip on my chin. My head was just about to pop out. The idea of passing out or tapping was just very confusing to me.”
Given the frustrating situation, Dober will attempt to overturn the decision with the CABMMA. He has 15 days to file the necessary paperwork, although he is not particularly confident about the possibility of having the blemish removed from his record.
“I definitely want to appeal. I want to do what I can to get that off my record. I’ll leave it in the (commission’s) hands and they’ll make the best decision.”
About the author
