Jon Kopaloff - Getty Images
Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
One of the more controversial moments coming out of UFC 142 was Joe Rogan's post-fight interview with referee Mario Yamasaki following his ruling to disqualify Erick Silva for illegal blows to the back of the head of Carlo Prater. Rogan questioned Yamasaki and effectively called him out for making what Joe felt was a bad call.
Rogan's questioning of the referee in the heat of the moment in-ring directly after the fight irritated some people who felt it was unprofessional and some have even said that it is something that wouldn't be allowed in the U.S. where there would be commission oversight.
Rogan took to The Underground to explain why he handled the interview the way he did:
He's a great guy, and I'm always happy to see him. When I step into the octagon however, I represent the people watching at home that might have obvious questions, and when something is controversial I'm forced to confront it honestly because that's what I would want to hear from a person in my position if I was a fan watching it at home.
It was obviously a controversial call, and I'm sure some of you agree with it, but I certainly think it's also possible to argue that it was a bad call. That was my perspective, so I had to express it. I'm not a perfect person, and I f*ck up all the time. It's a part of life.
...
I think Mario Yamasaki is one of the best in the world at refereeing MMA. No doubt about it.
He's got great insight to the sport, he's a life long martial artist, and he's a really smart guy.
What I was acting from, is that I saw an incredible young talent get denied a KO victory for a questionable call. When I entered into the Octagon and was told of the official ruling that Silva was going to be disqualified for illegal blows to the back of the head everyone that I was around who heard the news opened their mouths in shock. Everyone said, "what?"
The people in the truck couldn't believe it. I had to read it back to them because I thought it was a mistake, and when I leaned over to explain it to Goldie he couldn't believe it either.
I had to ask Mario about it. I didn't know how he was going to respond, but I had to ask him.
I actually feel that Rogan did his job very well in this case. He wasn't rude or overly antagonistic with Yamasaki. It was a very unusual ending that he disagreed with and he spoke to the referee to get clarification. Mario absolutely could have turned the interview down, there was nothing unprofessional in the least.
As for the idea that something like this couldn't happen in the states? I present Jim Gray giving referee Russell Mora the business following his horrible performance in the first Joseph Agbeko vs. Abner Mares bout, a fight which took place in Vegas:
For those who don't want to watch the video, Gray laid into Mora for allowing repeated low blows by Mares as well as calling a clear low blow a knockdown. He told him over and over that he was wrong, made him watch and re-watch the replay and at one point even said "With all due respect, you have a difficult job and I have a high degree of respect for referees, and so does Al Bernstein. This quite possibly, he said, has been one of the worst officiated fights he has seen in years." And then was very aggressive in telling Mora how badly he performed one more time before ending the interview.
There is nothing wrong or unprofessional with a commentator questioning, and even criticizing a referee for questionable performance as long as that referee agreed to an interview. What we saw Saturday night was actually Joe Rogan doing his job very well.
4 recs | 114 comments
At least Rogan didn't call him a diva on twitter based on second hand information
menckenstein - January 16, 2012
Re Rogan
I love the way he’s stopped using ‘K1 Level Striking’ now and now but started repeatedly mentioning ‘judo base’ at any possible opportunity!
taptomyarmbar - January 16, 2012
Did he just start cross training judo or something?
On weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed.
menckenstein - January 16, 2012
He used to do this when Karo Parisyan first came to the UFC. Now that Ronda Rousey is around, he is doing it again. I don’t mind since I love Judo.
RagingNoodles - January 16, 2012
It also has to domwith the fighters onmthemcard.
When talking up Omigawa, he’s gonna mention judo.
It happens with collegiate wrestling base too.
Snatchl - January 16, 2012
I didn't think Rogan stepped out of line at all
he just asked him why the fuck did you do that? I counted only ONE clear punch to the back of the guy’s head, that’s it. The fight should definitely be overturned to a No Contest at least.
SentientAndroid - January 16, 2012
The only thing I didn't like is where he is giving a blow by blow...
He could have asked about it without that.
TrojanCBB - January 16, 2012
True.
SentientAndroid - January 16, 2012
I loved Gray doing that. It’s the only thing I’ve ever loved Jim Gray doing, but still.
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
Gray was superb there. Mora was incompetent to the point he appeared corrupt throughout that fight. To be fair to Yamasaki his performance wasn’t in the same universe of ineptitude as Russell Mora.
sheikybaby - January 16, 2012
Absolutely. One was making a split-second decision. Mora was willfully ignoring low blow after low blow, that were plainly obvious to everyone. It was pathetic.
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
Unlike Rogan though
Gray didn’t do his interview with a live mic in the arena (and not in Brazil), and considering the typical in-ring boxing postfight clusterfuck, Gray’s interview was probably several minutes after the fight (unlike Rogan’s, which was within 30 seconds of the decision when the anger was still fresh).
Trust Doesn't Rust - January 16, 2012
I’m not sure how that really matters. Situations don’t have to be 100% the same to be comparable.
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
I didn’t say it wasn’t comparable, but due to the live-mic circumstances and the fiery nature of the Brazilian crowd (not to mention their rep for being riot-prone) Rogan’s actions went far beyond Gray’s. Beyond this, Gray was measured, focused, and fairly objective in his questioning while Rogan was emotional, leading, and somewhat wrong.
Trust Doesn't Rust - January 16, 2012
I disagree
I thought Rogan was composed (at least for his standards) and respectful, when talking to Mario. He gave the opportunitty to the referee explain himself, didn’t seem to me that he intended to put him on the spot.
Triangled - January 16, 2012
Rogan has a bad tendency to use his rhetorical energy to force a quick opinion on a situation when he gets emotional, a tactic he uses very effectively against hecklers and the like in his comedy career. In this case, he tried to essentially bully Yamasaki into admitting that he’d made a terrible call, even though the video replay showed at least a couple of shots to the back of the head. Rogan is a professional announcer and comedian who is used to speaking to large live audiences. He is putting Yamasaki, a professional referee with little or no public speaking experience, on the spot with a live mic in an arena full of angry fans. At best, Yamasaki ends up looking incompetent, at worst you get a riot in the arena. Gray, on the other hand, mostly lets the video evidence speak for itself.
Trust Doesn't Rust - January 16, 2012
I'm not comparing the situations
And I agree that he put Mario on the spot.
I just feel that was not his intention, he tried to give Mario the chance to explain his call and did so respectfully.
Triangled - January 16, 2012
i'm pretty sure it was his intention to put Yamasaki on the spot
I think I’m of the (rapidly falling out of favor) opinion that the announcers shouldn’t be demanding answers from the refs. That’s a job for the commissions.
I’m also wondering why this is the instance that put Rogan over the top. He’s witnessed greater travesties of octagon justice and not hauled Yves Lavigne into the center for questioning.
oxala75 - January 16, 2012
Thank you!
People were going nuts about this in the live thread. The ref made a mistake and should be held accountable for that. If Joe didn’tbring it upwe never would have got to hear why Yamasaki felt he needed to make the call
Our Bovine Public - January 16, 2012
Yes and no.
Yes, Mario, a referee of the state athletic commision, made a mistake and should be held accountable for it. No, it should not be by Joe Rogan, UFC employed commentator, live on television in the moment.
There needs to be a clear separation here between the UFC’s broadcast and the process by which wrong calls are handled. The refs are always indirectly held up by the court of public opinion by the very fact that we, the audience, watch them do their job, BUT they are never “on trial” for a reason. The moment a promotion sets the precedent to start questioning a refs call by putting them in the spotlight, you’ve gone down the slippery slope of inherently tampering with the way refs THINK about the fight.
While a ref is doing their job in the cage/ring/etc, they should never be thinking how their actions and calls will be thought of by the fans watching for two reasons: 1) its a losing proposition in that there will always be detractors and fans always miss the little details that a ref doesnt and 2) a refs sole focus should be on the fight itself and applying the local commissions rules to it.
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
Good points
But when does the Athletic commission ever repremand refs that have made mistakes. They might overturn a decision but they don’t punish the ref or even make reference to the fact that they may have made a mistake. Reffing is a tough gig and Mario made the call he thought was right at the time. But Joe is right to say that he asked the questions that people at home and in the studio would liked to have heard asked.
Our Bovine Public - January 16, 2012
I agree there is a larger problem with the commisions themselves
Their processes are opaque and therefore we do not know how much or how little they hold ref’s accountable and what, if any, sort of measures they take to improve or punish the refs. Two things commisions needs to work on: 1) transparency to the public; 2) proper accountability and response.
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
The same people complaining about this would be whining if he hadn’t. At that point they’d be worked up about how its terrible UFC uses their own commentators, and what a conflict of interest it all is. Good job as usual, Rogan.
Tag01 - January 16, 2012 via mobile
PEOPLE LOVE TO COMPLAIN
the poster above me hit the nail on the head.
1- Joe brings it up- people bitch that he is being unprofessional
2- Joe doesn’t bring it up- people bitch that no one holds ref accountable
no matter what people will bitch about everything they possibly could ever bitch about. Just prove that the human race needs to have more sex and smoke more weed.
Clark Griswald - January 16, 2012
that’s why i’m trying to de-evolve into a Bonobo, almost there.
Hardy's in your face - January 16, 2012
Bingo.
I was defending Rogan through that entire card after that. And I HATE Rogan’s commentary. But the man was right. 100% right. Thank you to Brent for bringing this up, too.
Jonathan. - January 16, 2012
People made a big deal about it and I also wanted to bring up that the refs get interviewed after boxing matches. Only time I’ve seen it prevented was after the Lamont Peterson vs Amir Khan fight whig they refused to let him get interviewed
Krimson - January 16, 2012 via mobile
They need to hurry up and arrest some people involved with that one
menckenstein - January 16, 2012
How about Freddie Roach for still not having trained Amir Khan to fight on the inside?
sheikybaby - January 16, 2012
Don’t get me started on that one.
Krimson - January 16, 2012
It was also prevented after the Hopkins/Dawson fight.
Kellerman ended up interviewing the on-site CSAC commissioner instead, I believe it was George Dodd.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
It's called being accountable.
I have to do it at my job.
POW - January 16, 2012
Joe Rogan, the UFC, and ZUFFA are not Mario's employer or boss.
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
Since there was no commission, wasn’t the UFC technically Mario’s boss for that night?
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
Doesn’t that also mean that there is no authority to appeal to to have the call overturned?
Sqwibbs - January 16, 2012
It means that the UFC, through Marc Ratner, could MAYBE switch it to an NC. I think Silva could appeal to Ratner, who was running the pseudo commission.
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
so the UFC could overturn it themselves?
Our Bovine Public - January 16, 2012
I don’t believe any commission has the right to overturn a decision and give another guy a win. I think the most they can do is rule a bout a no-contest (unless it was a judging error of some type).
Tim Burke - January 16, 2012
Since there is no commission
I think the UFC could do whatever they wanted.
discoandherpes - January 17, 2012
Oh thats at interesting twist. Right, Rio has no commission.
That could very well change the basic dynamics of the situation.
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
It doesn't matter who his employers are
he should still be accountable for doing his job right.
Your point is pointless
Clark Griswald - January 16, 2012
I'll be sure to personally hold you accountable for your next mistake wherever you work then.
even though I’m not your employer and you have no obligations to me as such.
But seriously I’m going to copy and paste what I wrote above which illustrates my point. The whole Rio-not-having-a-commission thing, though, puts this particular situation in a different light.
Yes, Mario, a referee of the state athletic commision, made a mistake and should be held accountable for it. No, it should not be by Joe Rogan, UFC employed commentator, live on television in the moment.
There needs to be a clear separation here between the UFC’s broadcast and the process by which wrong calls are handled. The refs are always indirectly held up by the court of public opinion by the very fact that we, the audience, watch them do their job, BUT they are never "on trial" for a reason. The moment a promotion sets the precedent to start questioning a refs call by putting them in the spotlight, you’ve gone down the slippery slope of inherently tampering with the way refs THINK about the fight.
While a ref is doing their job in the cage/ring/etc, they should never be thinking how their actions and calls will be thought of by the fans watching for two reasons: 1) its a losing proposition in that there will always be detractors and fans always miss the little details that a ref doesnt and 2) a refs sole focus should be on the fight itself and applying the local commissions rules to it.
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
You have the right to give your opinion, as well as, ask him questions or seek clarification. He can choose to respond or not. Kinda like what happened sat night.
Hardy's in your face - January 16, 2012
Ref is a service provided to the UFC
By the commission. If the service provided is flawed, UFC officials should have some right to question it. On camera is ok with me – a ref performs in public and should be prepared for a question on air- or else simply say “no comment”.
Arca MMA - January 17, 2012 via mobile
Zuffa was his boss for that fight.
But when Zuffa goes abroad, Marc Ratner runs things just as if it was NSAC doing it.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
thanks
i actually wasn’t aware of that. i always wondered how the commission thing worked when they went to Brazil.
oxala75 - January 16, 2012
I'm not accountable to only my boss, and neither is a referee.
First and foremost the ref is accountable to the fighters. This could be used as an argument for or against the decision, which at some level was an attempt to protect a fighter. Regardless, your point is moot.
POW - January 16, 2012
A little harsh, but a good job by Joe
Even better questions would have been:
When did you decide to DQ Silva? During the final flurry or after talking to Prater?
What did Silva do specifically to warrant a DQ? One blow to the back of the head? Three? One after being warned? Did you warn him during the flurry?""
Django Z - January 16, 2012
Interestingly, Rogan talked about the difficulty of coming up with good timely questions in about 2 minutes following the fight. In hindsight, those questions would’ve been better. He just didn’t have the luxury of time that all of us now have
crinow - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
talked about it on his podcast last week....
crinow - January 16, 2012 via iPhone app
This
At least he didn’t go in there wanting to tell a fighter how he is feeling.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
When I realised the outcome
My first thought was “what the fuck?” followed by “what the fuck has Yamasaki seen there?” and i’m sure there were thousands of people who did exactly the same.
Rogan deciding to ask him, was exactly what I wanted to see and I’m with those who think Rogan not only was right to interview Yamasaki, but handled the whole situation very well. He simply asked why he chose to DQ Silva, before telling him he disagreed with the decision. Nothing wrong with what he did, it was actually insightful to get a referee’s explanation immediatly after he’d made the call.
NE188 - January 16, 2012
Rob Schneider's call wasn't completely off the mark, I thought.
Personally, though, I believe an illegal move should only result in a DQ if it’s used to win a fight (like knocking someone out with an illegal strike) or if the person hit with it can’t continue. I think Silva’s illegal blow(s) had little to do with him finishing his opponent.
The ref shouldn’t just stop the fight and call it a DQ without even warning the offender or checking to see if the other guy can continue.
At the end of the day, this decision will probably get reversed anyway, so it really probably doesn’t matter. On top of that, look at our current LHW champ. I don’t think his DQ loss hurt his career that badly.
Shawn1379 - January 16, 2012
Rob Schneider?
SSreporters - January 16, 2012
Is a carrot
Our Bovine Public - January 16, 2012
The Nogs tried to feed Rob Schneider to a bus?
Cocytus - January 16, 2012
Haha, I always think Yamasaki looks and sounds exactly like Rob Schnieder's character from Big Daddy, the Adam Sandler movie.
So I usually call him Rob Schneider.
Shawn1379 - January 16, 2012
After phoning it in somewhat the last few shows, Rogan was “on” for 142 – this instance being handled exemplary.
3PA - January 16, 2012
I feel even better about Joe’s actions after he clarified them on the UnderGround. I think he was a little antagonistic, but I’m very glad that he not only gave the fans an what they wanted to see, but Mario an opportunity to defend his actions.
castleeb - January 16, 2012
Brent
I noticed the word fuck not e-bleeped. Just pointing that out because you guys tend to e-bleep curse words on the front page.
halitosis - January 16, 2012 via mobile
i'm with rogan as well
i actually think he handled the interview very respectfully, acknowledging that mario has a very difficult job to do in making a decision like that in a split second. he simply disagreed, as did most, with the call.
also props to erick for stating his respect for mario and handling himself professionally. all in all i think the whole interview was handled very respectfully. plus, mario didn’t even have to agree to be interviewed. if they had failed to acknowledge the call, people would be up in arms right now.
ufc giving erick his win bonus is great too.
colonel panic - January 16, 2012
I don’t think Rogan was that much of a problem. I would have preferred that he wouldn’t have asked him live since the fans were so rowdy. Just asked Yamasaki before he went back to commentating then explained Yamasaki’s decision to the viewers.
Also, as stupid as us MMA fans are, some will take that post fight interview as “YAMASAKI FUCKIN SUCKS” instead of “Yamasaki was mistaken at the moment”
IRodC - January 16, 2012
Joe's usually pretty spot on with this stuff
I loved his interview with Gray Maynard after the Emerson fight
Shaun32887 - January 16, 2012
Thank you.
The amount of people spewing that OMG UFC = WWE bullshit and raging over this was retarded, I too had to remind these idiots that Jim Gray, Larry Merchant and Max Kellerman have grilled refs about stupid calls like this quite a few times too. Sometimes, some MMA fans can annoy the fuck out of me with this shit.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Joe apparently missed all of the terrible calls Yamasaki had during his stints in regional promotions in Brazil. Absolutely terrible refereeing and putting a lot of guys in danger.
If you actually think this was more of a mistake than a trend, you’re nuts. Yamasaki should have been removed from regular rotation a couple of years ago. Yamasaki has gotten a lot of guys nearly hospitalized.
Leland Roling - January 16, 2012
I don’t pay a lot of attention to reffing. Is he still doing that? Has he improve?
castleeb - January 16, 2012
He had a number of stints in Brazil over the last year in which he called absurd fouls and let dudes get completely blasted by numerous shots that they shouldn’t have taken. He also had a few terrible stoppages. It’s hilarious that Wallid went apeshit on him. That’s mostly because he made some horrible calls in Brazil while Wallid was front and center watching.
Leland Roling - January 16, 2012
Interesting. I think it would have been more enlightening if Wallid clarified that rather than rolling with the slew of strange but acerbic insults he flung at Yamasaki. But that wouldn’t be much like Wallid from what I understand.
castleeb - January 16, 2012
I remember him in a Shooto Brasil
He stopped a fight when Hernani Perpetuo (who was winning) was escaping an armbar and didn’t tapped. He had to rematch the guy.
Triangled - January 16, 2012
It would be fun if BE added a “Top Ten Referees” ranking column to the consensus rankings. It would fluctuate even more quickly than the fighter rosters. Pitch it Rolling!
Machiel Van - January 16, 2012
*Roling
Machiel Van - January 16, 2012
quiet you
Rob Young - January 16, 2012
Gif of the blows
Gif of the back of the head shots
Donk696 - January 16, 2012
won’t load, but just press return in the address bar and it will.
Donk696 - January 16, 2012
Good stuff
He’s obviously not targeting the side of the head here, sucks for Silva but come on son, hit the face if you can’t get the temple.
menckenstein - January 16, 2012
What a joke
That first ‘glancing blow’ was a punch to the shoulder.
And 8 shots were to the side of the head and ear. LEGAL SHOTS.
One was illegal but it was inconsequential; Yamasaki came in immediately after that shot, while Prater went limp BEFORE that illegal blow.
Well done.
timetosaygoodbye - January 16, 2012
Yeah he's going limp and the arena ghosts are helping him fight for that single leg TD
Notice the first blow that misses is a punch aimed (intentionally) at the back of the head. Most of the hammerfists end up being (unintentional) forearms to the back of the head, but aimed at the temple/ear.
It’s like inside leg kicks, you may not mean to crack the sack but if you do you’ve gotta deal with the consequences (which will be the same, sorry dead old abusive internet meme dad).
menckenstein - January 16, 2012
Deal with what consequences?
So a person should be disqualified for an unintentional kick to the jewels? That’s bogus.
juanchoD - January 16, 2012
Agreed f
You have to give a fighter room for error with leg kicks because low blows are just something that is just going to happen from time to time.
discoandherpes - January 17, 2012
Man,
I’ve sparred without a cup before(I’m a dumbass) and taken a kick to the nads. I never even thought about getting mad at the other dude. Of course I was in a shit load of pain, but that’s beside the point…
juanchoD - January 18, 2012
And while we're at it,
So many of those shots landed on Prater’s arm and shoulder, it should be more than obvious that he was trying to get the side of the head and not the back. If he was targeting the back of the head, none of those punches would have landed on Prater’s shoulders.
juanchoD - January 16, 2012
Um what?
That “illegal forearm” was because Prater was moving his head in an angle where only the back of his head is a target. Even then, Silva tried as hard as possible to hit the side of his head instead of the back. Prater gamed the fuck out of the rules, and got himself a DQ win. I can only hope they reverse that shit, and send him straight to Ellenberger so he can be cut from the organisation.
juanchoD - January 16, 2012
i cant agree with any of those
except the last one.
shot to behind the ear is not illegal (actually this is matt serra’s favorite punch)
and most of them went to side, not back of the head.
DK_Monster - January 16, 2012
" I represent the people watching at home that might have obvious questions"
No, no you don’t. You are a color commentator that does live interviews with the winner. You represent NOBODY.
What Joe did to Mario is the same tactic that we use in local news to confront criminals. It’s called a bumrush. Joe is unprofessional because he did not ask to interview Mario and instead put him on the spot in front of millions. He disputed the call over and over to Mario and then told the crowd to applaud Silva. He held the mic, he held the power.
Joe Rogan is NOT the voice of the people. Mario didn’t agree to the interview prior and was caught completely off guard. If he is to be held accountable, it is by the commission and not a UFC employee.
FatBa - January 16, 2012
Agreed
If I recall correctly, Buffer announced the reason for the DQ. Correct me if I’m wrong. The fans were given all the explanation they needed at that point. If Rogan wanted an explanation of the rule being applied, that’s fine. But Rogan decided to make it a confrontation.
Rogan didn’t need to try to show up the ref that way. To try to substitute a slow motion replay for the ref’s decision made while the action was live was over the line, especially when the replay showed that the ref’s decision was likely the correct one.
( . Y . ) - January 16, 2012
One key point you're missing.
Actually, the live fans in the arena weren’t, because Bruce Buffer doesn’t speak Portuguese. Joe Rogan, the translator, and the production team were doing their job by informing the live crowd in Rio. One shouldn’t put it past the crowd to riot over what could look like a fixed call.
McKinley B. Noble - January 16, 2012
And yes, I know that Yamazaki was translating.
But the rest of the UFC production team needed to reiterate and call attention to the reasoning behind the stoppage. Yamazaki himself wasn’t too convincing. Again, not a confrontation.
McKinley B. Noble - January 16, 2012
disagreed
Rogan put his armaround Mario, said he was a good ref and he respected him and acknowledged that he had to make a difficult decision in the heat of the moment. There wasnothing confrontational about what Joe did
Our Bovine Public - January 16, 2012
I thought that also
Rogan was really trying to not get confrontational. He just gave Mario the opportunity to explain his call.
Triangled - January 16, 2012
Agree to disagree
He made the truck play it back in slow mo while saying “Legal, legal, legal” and wanted a response. Really not his job.
FatBa - January 16, 2012
I have a feeling that Joe Rogan has more creative licence with his job title than you are willing to give him whether you are comfortable with that or not.
castleeb - January 16, 2012
his job is to serve the viewer by bringing as much information to the viewer as possible. if you think you have an officia job descrition from Zuffa then please provide it.
Hardy's in your face - January 16, 2012
His job is to Color Commentate in the same vein as a Madden or Pang.
My official Zuffa job description is Matchmaker Extrordinaire and Baby-Sitter to the Stars. Sometimes they let me watch fights, though.
FatBa - January 16, 2012
it sounded like your job description was writing job descriptions
It’s obviously more than Color Commenting since he goes into the cage after each fight to interview the relevant parties. You really should check yourself before suggesting to the internet that you know more accurately what Joe’s job is than Joe himself. Zuffa hired Joe and they know exactly what they have. Of course Joe doesn’t represent you personally but he feels that when he is working he is the fan’s ringside representative. My question to you is.. who the hell are you to tell him that is the incorrect perspective for him to take? No offense intended.
If Joe had suggested that mario should be punished or said that he is a bad refereee that would have brought some discredit to the event but thankfully that didn’t happen.
Hardy's in your face - January 16, 2012
The real test for a ref is dealing with this guy
Garbanzo - January 16, 2012
Irony is Rogan is a Classy Post-Fight Interviewer
Especially in contrast with HBO sports in comparison where they look civil and suits but act classless.
kibbled_bits - January 16, 2012
Yup Kellerman and Merchant are such douchebags in there after the fights
I love it though.
Rob Young - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I was confused as to why more people weren’t talking about this after the fight. Isn’t this the first time this has happened in the UFC? Possibly all of MMA? I’ve never seen a referee interviewed immediately after the fight, in the cage on the microphone! It blew me away; just one of those “they’ve never done this before and I’m seeing it live” moments. It will be interesting to see if it happens again.
Machiel Van - January 16, 2012
I talked about it.
Earl Montclair - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Next up
they should bring the judges into the octagon while everyone is booing the decision and ask them to explain how they scored the fight that way.
Maybe they’d pay better attention to their job if they knew there was a chance they would be centered out infront of a ful arena of angry fans.
Tats16 - January 16, 2012
Joe Rogan does not and could not represent me.
Finian1 - January 16, 2012
Disagree.
If Mario had walked off without giving Rogan that interview, he would have been crucified by people. He was in a no-win situation fostered by a commentator. I don’t agree with that.
If you do agree with Rogan’s actions, don’t come back and complain when he goes on an anti-referee/judging rant on the next show.
Hawk52 - January 16, 2012
Agreed. Loved what Rogan did. Before anything, he’s a fan of the sport, and asks questions he would like someone else ask these guys if he were sitting at home. And you have to appreciate Mario’s balls to stay in there and defend his heat-in-the-moment decision to DQ a guy.
Shnak - January 17, 2012
Damned if you do, damned if you don't
Revolver Ocelot - January 16, 2012
He interviewed the ref and the loser of the fight...
I feel like he may have forgot somebody.
Oh well. Here’s hoping that Mario confronts Joe at his next stand-up show and asks why he isn’t being funny.
FatBa - January 16, 2012
Prater was too busy sitting on his stool milking the situation to the max…
Shnak - January 17, 2012
I thought it was pretty fucked up. I just don't see the point in doing that to Yamasaki. It's a dick move and Rogan is wrong when he says his job changes when he enters the octagon.
James Brady - January 16, 2012
is it a dick move to tell someone that you know more about how to approach thier own job then the person who has been executing those duties effectively for over 10 years?
Hardy's in your face - January 17, 2012
I don't think refs should be interviewed at all.
But that is completely Independent from saying they shouldn’t be held accountable, because they should, just not in that public fashion. I would say the same for an equally opposite situation where a ref is praised for a great job. I would not want to see him interviewed in that case either. The focus should be for refs constantly improve, have fights reviewed to keep them accountable but NOT put them in the publics conscience any more than they already are. Refs are humans too, which is why I think the influence of being in the public eye can begin to obscure objectivity. Get in, get out and leave quality assurance to an athletic commission (No AC in Brasil but in general).
Luffmania - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I dont know why people are so stuck on the idea of accountability. Joe’s expression of his opinion and asking for clarification on a ruling are not about accountability ! Asking if a ref is interested in explaing their thought process is an attempt at illiciting information not holding someone accountable nor is it an attempt to administer some sort of punishment.
Hardy's in your face - January 16, 2012
I finally watched the clip yesterday. I see why Mario called it a DQ. Maybe on further review he would’ve made a different decision, but like he said to Rogan, he had to make a decision right then and there. I’ve got no problem with his decision, or with Rogan questionning it. Mario did well in the interview, he didn’t say anything that would make the UFC overturn his decision, and he stood by his decision by saying that some shots landed to the back of the head, which is absolutely true.
Everyone was crying when Belfort KO’d Franklin and Akiyama with shots behind the head, and now, you’ve got a referee that finally made the right decision to DQ someone because of the same type of behind the head shots, and everyone is crying again. There really is no satisfying MMA fans, uh?
Shnak - January 17, 2012
Wow...
“I actually feel that Rogan did his job very well in this case.”
Is this a BE first?
tonyinstl - January 17, 2012
Every single person
From the fighters, to the people in the arena, to everyone watching at home wanted to know why this decision was made. Mario is a grown man, not a child to be coddled, there’s a difference between putting someone on the spot and simply asking for clarification. Joe got an answer for a question EVERYONE had and I believe he did so respectfully. I have no problem with a commentator asking for clarification from a ref during a controversial call.
Genki Sudo's Choreographer - January 17, 2012
that boxing vid attached to the post was brutal
BIGNAT - January 18, 2012
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