Dana White Blasts UFC 307 Officiating: ‘Just Madness… Atrocious’
UFC judges and referees have always erred on the controversial side, and at UFC 307, they made multiple decisions that left many people scratching their heads.
Chief among those who were annoyed by the officiating at UFC 307 was UFC president Dana White. Like always, White didn’t hold back when it came time to discuss the frustrating decisions made by the officials, and he let his thoughts be known to the world.
The first annoyance was the referee’s decision to let Mario Bautista stall Jose Aldo out against the cage in the last round of their fight. White maintained that it is the referee’s job to prevent fighters from stalling out the fight, and he was not too happy that Bautista was able to do this against Aldo and quite literally clinch a split-decision victory over the legend.
Dana White vents about terrible judging and referee’s at UFC 307
“I always think that the referee should be more active on that, 100%, especially when somebody keeps doing it to stall,” White told the media during the UFC 307 post-fight press conference (H/T MMA Mania). “You guys aren’t going to f—king let up on this, are you? I guess we’ll get into it. If you’re judging a guy, whether it is control, if it’s this or that, if you’re not trying to fight, how do you win the fight? Right? And if you’re looking at attempted takedowns, what about stuffing the takedowns? Just madness.”
“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,” Dana White continued. “When they see it continually happening and that the guy is not trying to win the fight, then you keep breaking them up…I mean, it’s common sense when the guy keeps doing it and is doing everything he can to not fight and not win the fight. As a ref, you should break it up immediately.”
The second frustration of the night was due to the poor judging. Several decisions on the card seemed wrong, and many fellow fighters, media members, and fans seemingly unanimously scored the fight the other way. When asked about this, Dana White didn’t hesitate to comment on that as well.
“I thought the judging tonight was atrocious,” White sighed, not amused. “I felt like I was at a boxing match in Ireland tonight.”
Do you agree with Dana White’s sentiments about the atrocious officiating at UFC 307?
