Not many have delivered a beatdown inside the Octagon as vicious and hard to watch as this UFC Vegas 108 star.
Refereeing is a hot topic at the moment after what transpired at this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.
For the second time in July, Jason Herzog was the subject of criticism for his performance. After being accused of stepping in too soon when Derrick Lewis finished Tallison Teixeira in Nashville, the opposite was the case at Etihad Arena. Herzog allowed Mohammad Yahya to fight on through eight knockdowns, leaving some calling for him to be sacked.
Had that happened, Herzog would not have been the first referee to have been removed mid-event after a terrible officiating performance.
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Referee was removed after letting Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos beat Benoit Saint-Denis to a pulp in controversial UFC 267 fight
UFC 267 was a memorable event, as it saw Glover Teixeira beat Jan Blachowicz to become light heavyweight champion, Petr Yan outlast Cory Sandhagen in a five-round war, and Islam Makhachev brutally submit Dan Hooker.
But not every talking point to come out of the card was a positive one. Referee Vyacheslav Kiselev was being lambasted for his performance in Benoit Saint-Denis’ debut fight against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, who returns on August 2 to face Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 108.
The Brazilian Capoeira specialist laid a beating on his French opponent, leaving most expecting a stoppage. But that did not come, even after Saint-Denis told the referee that he could not see out of one eye and displayed increasingly concerning body language as Zaleski dos Santos battered and bloodied him.
Things got so bad that the commentary team even began yelling for the fight to be stopped by Kiselev, a former fighter from Russia who went 0-4 in his pro career between 1997 and 2003. The decision was ultimately made to remove the referee from UFC 267.
“There were at least two or three moments where it was very clear the ref should have stopped it,” Zaleski dos Santos said at the post-fight press conference. “He ended up making the fight a lot tougher than it should have been.
“I’m just sorry for the guy because he ended up getting hurt a lot more than he should have been – and myself included because when you’re beating someone up, you’re getting hurt, as well.
“He was putting people in danger,” dos Santos said about the referee’s removal from the event.
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Legendary referee John McCarthy slammed Vyacheslav Kiselev for the ‘worst’ officiating at a UFC event ever
Among those baffled and enraged by what they witnessed was John McCarthy, a legendary referee who set the gold standard on officiating for much of MMA’s history.
In a post on social media, McCarthy called it the worst refereeing ever and urged the UFC to remove Kiselev from his remaining assignments on the night.
“Holy Hell, @marcgoddard?uk @MarcRatnerUFC I just watched the worst job of officiating at a @UFC event ever!!! Please just don’t ket him do another fight….. EVER!!!”
‘Big’ John ultimately got his wish, and the controversial referee has not been seen inside the Octagon since.