John McCarthy was infuriated by one particular piece of refereeing at UFC 316.
The legendary MMA official watched Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O’Malley to defend his bantamweight belt at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night.
However, it was an incident during Kayla Harrison’s co-main event win over Julianna Pena that caught his attention.
‘Big’ John McCarthy vented his frustration at referee Vitor Ribeiro while recapping UFC 316 on Sunday.
Iconic referee calls out UFC 316 mistake
Fans praised the fighter-turned-referee for making a bold call that stunned Joe Rogan during the women’s bantamweight title bout.
Ribeiro took a point when Pena landed multiple illegal up kicks on Harrison during the first round.
The MMA world has become accustomed to referees giving several warnings before taking action for fouls. So, it came as a major shock when the 25-fight veteran immediately punished the defending champion.
McCarthy agrees that was the right call, but he insists Ribeiro made a big mistake by restarting the fight on the feet, rather than giving Harrison back the dominant ground position she had before being the victim of a serious foul.
“The point taken was the right thing to do by Ribeiro, but it was the wrong thing to put them in a standing position,” the retired referee said.
“You had a bottom fighter foul the person on top. That means the bottom fighter goes back to being on the bottom. They don’t get out of a position by fouling. What the f— is wrong with people?
How hard is it to figure out, dude? You did one thing perfect, you took the point, that was the right thing to do.
“You don’t have to give a hard warning, she kicked her twice… Absolutely, he should have taken a point.”
Fans loved UFC 316 referee
Those watching at home didn’t even notice the mistake Ribeiro apparently made at UFC 316.
They were too busy singing his praises for deducting a point from Pena without hesitation.
“I hope this is the beginning of Vitor Ribeiro as a stable referee in the UFC,” one fan said. While another tweeted: “Love seeing a ref actually deduct a point, especially on a blatant foul like that one. Pena sucks.”
“Julianna Peña 100% deserves that point deduction for striking Kayla. But PLEASE LEGALIZE UPKICKS IN MMA,” a third person added.
“Can I just say it’s refreshing to see that referee Vitor Ribeiro immediately take a point once a foul has been done?? Other referees will give 2-3 chances/warnings to a fighter before taking a point or until a fighter is already visually (or balls) impaired lol #UFC316,” someone else said.
“Hopefully, other refs follow his lead. Who knows maybe every referee was waiting for someone to make the first move like that,” another wrote.
“That damage doesn’t go away. Right call,” a sixth fan insisted.