The usual suspect: blaming the refs in UFC fights
Blaming the referee on a UFC fight night is not uncommon. In fact, we have seen so many times fighters attacking the UFC referees for bad calls and decisions which they did not really like that we have been questioning the extent to which referees are influencing the outcome of a bout in the end.
But it’s not only fighters who are attacking referees. It is also MMA fans who are accusing referees for many things that have gone wrong in a fight – or at least for things that they believe to have gone wrong! This is especially true for fans who have also wagered on a given fight in online bookmakers, betting apps or vedonlyöntisivustot offering UFC betting.
In MMA fights, the referees have a critical role to play. They are responsible for ensuring the safety of the fighters in the ring and in doing so they are in charge of enforcing and applying the rules. In short, they are responsible for making sure that the regulations are followed, and the fight is fair to both athletes. So, they can intervene whenever there is a need to do so, and they are required to make calls to declare whether a misconduct or unfair move has been made by one of the two fighters during the bout.
If the role of referees in a UFC fight is so clear and explicit, what is there to blame? Why are refs attacked, when the safety of fighters is placed on their shoulders?
Well, the short answer is that since we are talking about human beings, the element of subjective decisions and calls is always present. And since we are talking about subjective decisions, we do realize that they might be objected to by some, while accepted by others. Thus, not everybody agrees with what the referees call and what they decide, especially if their call is against what they believe to be right or against their interests.
Suppose you have wagered on a fight at a bookmaker that has been offering great bonuses and promotions for picking a certain market. If you lose because of a ref’s call, then you will most probably feel that what went wrong was the judge’s decision!
But in reality, what is at stake is much more than the subjective evaluation of the referees’ calls. Some calls and decisions are challenged because they have a direct effect on the bout’s result, and this ends up in fighters or even fans attacking the referees.
Those who love to watch MMA fights and who are fond of big, bad-ass names in the sport, will certainly remember Conor McGregor who ran over and pushed the referee in a fight where he wasn’t even fighting! McGregor was so enthused and wanted to cheer the upset with Charlie Ward’s victory over John Redmond, that he got into the ring and when the ref tried to take Wad to the middle to announce his victory, he didn’t really like it and he attacked him.
Or they will also most probably remember how everybody in the audience of UFC fight were accusing and blaming the ref where Gavin Tucker was left with four broken bones in the face. Everybody – including Dana White – felt that the fight should not have gone too far and that the ref should have stopped it earlier, before Tucker got seriously injured. The audience, the fans and the entire MMA community felt that it was a bad call made by the ref and they were explicitly blaming him for what had happened.
Referees are the ones to blame whenever something does not turn out to be like people have expected it to be or whenever a decision is not aligned to people’s perspectives and own views.
Sometimes, they are even attacked just because of the bad temper of fighters or teammates of the fighters (!) just like it happened with McGreggor attacking Marc Goddard. But what is certain is that they are always the ones to be accused of wrongdoing, bad calls and everything that goes not as anticipated in MMA! Even if refs have a huge responsibility – that of maintaining the safety of the fighters during any bout – they are rarely acknowledged for their integrity, transparency and consistency in making decisions.
