UFC light heavyweights Mike Rodriguez and Ed Herman faced off last night at UFC Vegas 10. The bout was refereed by Chris Tognoni.
The fight was momentarily stopped when Rodriguez was deemed to havRefereeRefereee landed a low blow on Hernan and was issued a warning by Referee Chris Tognoni. But seconds later, the replay of the action showed that is was actually a knee to the body that hurt Herman. Ed Herman later went on to win the fight via submission in the third and last round.
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1304957636102647809
W O B B L E D !
How did Herman survive this @MRodMMA elbow!?
[ Tune in – LIVE on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/yG63fOz6DK
— UFC (@ufc) September 13, 2020
Ed Herman addresses the RD 2 controversy. #UFCVegas10 pic.twitter.com/IjAefqpGcZ
— UFC (@ufc) September 13, 2020
Many in the MMA community were appalled by Tognoni’s poor decision, which probably changed the outcome of the fight. UFC president Dana White was amongst them. White came down on Chris Tognoni’s officiating during the post-fight press conference.
“It’s hard not to band on this guy. The worst I’ve ever seen, that was some f*cking Mazagatti level sh*t right there.” White said, “That kid wins by knockout and loses the fight… one of the worst thing I’ever seen.”
“I was all over him tonight about replay… all you have to do is look at the f*cking replay. White then added, “We’re giving Mike (Rodriguez) his win money too, he won the f*cking fight.”
White confirmed that Mike Rodriguez would get his bonus too despite losing officially.
Even though this accident was particularly appalling, being harsh on referees is nothing new for Dana White. He is famous for his rants about referees Steve Mazagatti and Mario Yamasaki.
It is not far fetched to imagine Rodriguez appealing the result of the fight and get it overturned in the next few days, but it will be a tough task. Rodriguez’s manager Tyson Chartier already said he intends to appeal the decision.
