MMA has had its share of terrible officiating and controversial calls in the highest levels, so it’s easy to imagine some of the weirder stuff that goes on in smaller, amateur events. Another prime example of this happened earlier in November 2017 at ‘New England Fights 41: Collision Course’ in a bout between amateur flyweights.
As seen on the video that’s starting to circulate on social media, Caleb Austin was caught in a guillotine choke and was forced to tap. His opponent let go of the submission, and both men stopped and thought the fight was over.
The official was in a very bad angle and didn’t see the pretty obvious tap, so he then makes them continue. This is when Austin instantly jumped all over his confused and unprepared opponent, who already thought he won. Seconds later, Austin won by ground and pound.
Instead of a submission loss, he was awarded a TKO victory.
Watch the clip below:
This is why you never stop fighting until the ref pulls you off, yikes! #supernecessary #NewEnglandfights #ufc #mma pic.twitter.com/jbxXnyj316
— Mike Brown (@mikebrownmma) November 19, 2019
The official truly made a costly mistake, and people can also justifiably argue about the sportsmanship displayed here. At the end of the day though, as Jorge Masvidal’s coach states, it’s “super necessary” to continue fighting until the referee signals the official finish.
According to Tapology, the controversial win improved Austin’s amateur MMA record to 3-0.
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