UFC Revolution: Conor McGregor and Dana White Propose Radical Changes to End Boring Fights in the UFC
Conor McGregor and Dana White think it’s time for a change.
Aside from a few questionable split decisions, UFC 307 was a successful night of fights punctuated by Alex Pereira’s destructive fourth-round knockout of Khalil Rountree in the evening’s main event. However, there was one scrap that left a lot of pundits frustrated. That being the lackluster scrap between former featherweight king Jose Aldo and rising contender Mario Bautista.
Throughout the three-round affair, Bautista regularly clinched with Aldo, pressing him against the fence and refusing to do much more than that. The lack of offense prompted the referee to separate them, but each time he did so, Bautista would go right back to clinching against the cage.
That ultimately won’t Bautista the fight which prompted a lot of heated reactions from fighters and fans alike. McGregor offered his take on the situation by suggesting a simple guideline for when referees should separate fighters.
“As referee, if the fighters go go the same place of stawl over and over, I would be putting the position on a clock,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post. “Each time they end up back there, the clock goes shorter… 30 second clock, 20 second clock, 10 second, 8 second, 6 second, etc, etc, etc.”
“Separate, separate, separate. No point prolonging these positions as if they haven’t taken place exactly the same way prior and nothing has taken place but stawling. My opinion. Ya’s want blood, call us.”
Dana White Agrees with Conor McGregor … Mostly
UFC CEO Dana White echoed a similar sentiment while addressing members of the press following the fight card in Salt Lake City.
“I always think that the referees should be more active on [fighters stalling],” White said during the post-fight press conference. “100%. Especially when somebody keeps doing it to stall… If you’re not trying to fight, how do you win the fight? If you’re looking at attempted takedowns, well what about stuffing the takedowns?”
“When you can tell that the guy definitely doesn’t want to stand and strike and just wants to stall against the fence, yes. The refs, that’s their job, they’re supposed to see it. When they see it continuingly happening and that the guy is not trying to win the fight, then you [should] keep breaking them up.”
Responding directly to McGregor’s suggestion of a sort of countdown clock, White doesn’t believe you’d necessarily need a timer for each instance of stalling.
“Yeah, I don’t think you even need a clock. I mean, it’s common sense. When the guy keeps doing it and is doing everything he can to not fight and to not win the fight, as a ref, you should break it up immediately.”
