Quote:
Originally Posted by raybec 4
That Weidman/Mousassi thing was bizarre. I don't get why the doctor stopped it. OTOH if Weidman hadn't tried to milk it, the fight would have continued. He was winning too. I was way wrong about DC, Rumble seemed to just not give a ****, why the hell was he pushing the grappling?
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Its a very complicated, unfortunate situation, there is a lot of understanding and blame on all parties (except Mousasi who is totally blameless but gets all the hate). I have a lot of thoughts on this because its not simple at all.
Just the facts: New York adopted the new rules, so you need two hands (or fingertips) down to be grounded. Mousasi and Weidman are clinched and Weidman is trying to play the hands-down game (even though the new rule is trying to discourage it) and trying to get both hands down. Mousasi launches 2 brutal knees at Weidman's face. In real time at full speed the 1st knee looked iffy and the 2nd knee looked illegal. The referee Dan Miragliotta halted action, called time, announced an illegal knee, put Mousasi in a neutral corner, told Weidman he had 5 minutes and brought in the doctor.
As the doctor is examining Weidman, Miragliotta is talking to John McCarthy outside the cage. Meanwhile on the PPV broadcast, Joe Rogan correctly determines from replay that both knees were legal. It was not reasonable to expect the ref to know they were legal, the 2nd knee looked illegal at real time, but on slo-mo replay you can see Mousasi lifted Weidman up, bringing his fingers off the mat, before the 2nd knee landed. McCarthy also saw the replay and told Miragliotta that the knees were legal.
We're in a gray area now because there is no replay for fouls in new york, but Miragliotta is convinced by the greatest ref in the world that he was wrong, so he decides to try and correct his mistake. He goes to Weidman, tells him hey those knees were legal, so its time to get everyone out and restart the fight. Everything would have been fine except.... at this point, the stupid god damn New York doctors inexplicably decide to **** the poor ref. Even though Weidman says he's OK, and though rocked, he's better off than many fighters who were allowed to continue in prior events, these two inexperienced doctors, in this situation, decide Weidman is done. They insist to Miragliotta that the fight is over. Part of their determination may have been influenced by Weidman taking the time to sit for several minutes, which of course he is gonna do after the ref told him he had time.
At that point, the ref can either insist that the fight was stopped by an illegal knee and call it a no contest, or say the fight was stopped by doctors after a legal blow, in which case it was a TKO. Since he was now convinced the knees were legal and the doctors won't let the fight continue, he has no choice. TKO. It sucks. Mousasi is unfairly boo'd. Weidman is confused and upset, and the ref has to bear the humiliation of Joe Rogan telling the arena he made a mistake. No one really blames the doctors for anything.
Dan Miragliotta: Can't blame him for the stop, it looked illegal to almost everyone in real time. Things break down for him when he's trying to get people to tell him what the replay showed in a state that has no replay. He should have said "nope, I called it illegal, if I'm wrong I'll apologize later, and if the doctors won't let me restart, its a no contest." Unfortunately, once he was convinced he was wrong, then its a TKO if the doctors stop the fight. An appeal would be interesting.
NYSAC Doctors: They ****ed up, hung the poor ref out to dry, and should get most of the blame. Its the co-main of a major event, and the guy they are examining is nowhere near hurt enough to stop the fight given UFC history. But those doctors are not experienced with MMA, the sport is new in the state.
Chris Weidman: None of this would have happened if he didn't play the game. One hand down is no longer good enough, ah-hah, fine I'll put both hands down then, and if I get kneed maybe my opponent loses a point or is disqualified. Except, you are opened up to getting ****ed by the refs and an incompetent AC if it doesn't work out. He should have just fought, we changed the rule to get fighters to stop playing the hands-down game, maybe they'll listen after this. Also, if Weidman would have stayed on his feet, insisted he was fine, and didn't milk the time, the doctors probably would have let it go. But, he was told he was hit by an illegal blow and had 5 minutes, and its his right to take that time. Anyway, Weidman did not deserve to get screwed. At worst, this should have been a no contest, not a loss. And if the doctors were competent, the ref should have been allowed to reset what was to that point a great fight.
Gegard Mousasi: Utterly blameless, he did nothing wrong. He knew what he was doing, he lifted his opponent before throwing the knee. Weidman is playing the game with me, that wont work, eat this, etc.