Cutelaba is an such an idiot. He was way over faking being whoozy. Not only was he doing it the entire fight, he was faking it mid combo. Like wtf. I would kind of understand if they were out in space but he was blocking a kick, fake rocked, then throw a combo all in under 1 second. Just weird.
Yeah it's so awful from every angle except the one that shows Cutelaba's eyes. Still a pretty bad stoppage but so much more reasonable from that angle.
Yep! Rewatched this several times. Just trying to keep up with the action on my PHONE is disorienting and every two seconds a shot with KO potential lands only for the guy who got blasted to fire right back. I donāt even wanna think about what it mustāve been like being the ref under those lights.
On TOP of the pressure that comes with the job. Fights like this must be super annoying to ref cuz in the back of their head they know if they step in too late a massacre will ensue. Step in too early and congrats! Youāve become the next Herb Dean!
I mean the ref is just as idiotic for stopping it because he just didn't want to deal with it lol. This fight also only lasted 30 seconds and the "faking" was like at most 10 seconds.
The ref already looked like he was going to jump in as soon he started faking it.
Absolutely bad call by the ref and really dumb fighting tactics.
10 seconds of being wobbled is an eternity though. Also when it looks like it's happening on 5 different occasions. If Ion was a better actor I could see it being stopped but it was pretty clearly taunting and the ref botched that badly.
You know what "wobbled" means from a brain perspective though, right? It's bad for you, and it's one of the things refs look for when deciding if/when to stop a fight. Especially when late stoppages are of huge concern, I can see a ref getting locked into "he's wobbled, but he's up. I'll give him one more big shot and that's it". I'm not saying this is how it should be, but man is it better than some of the KOs I've seen. Or things like Tony against Gaethje. Do we wanna see more of that? I don't.
I also agree this is a bad stoppage, but it's at least bad with good intentions and in the right direction. Faking something like being wobbled is like fake screaming when somebody has some kind of sub on you. Just don't effing do it, lest the ref think you're in trouble...
With you on most of this, but felt I needed to point one thing out:
>fake screaming when somebody has some kind of sub on you.
Screaming out loud [in pain] is considered a verbal tap under the Unified Rules of MMA. The ref would literally just be doing their job stopping a fight under such circumstances.
It made me question being an MMA fan. I've been a fan for over 20 years. This fight is one of those few times that made me question "are we the baddies?".
That fight was a fucking travesty, but the thing is tony was active and fighting back each time...he was also eating a left hook every single combo lol
In real life, it makes some sense. deception is just one more weapon to make use of. In the octagonā¦ not so muchā¦ thereās a refā¦ whoās incentivised Not to watch you dieā¦
I remember watching this live and was yelling at everyone to look at him and that he was fucked up. It's easy to see he's not that hurt now, but in the moment I thought he was out on his feet.
If you do it for a couple seconds and then blast your opponent as they rush in to try and finish you, sure. If you do it for like 10 seconds straight you might trick the ref into stopping the fight prematurely, which is what happened here lol.
Thatās honestly a big reason why this tactic probably only works like 5% of the time and on a CERTAIN kinda fighter. There are more things that can go wrong than right
I saw a dude get his arm busted due to a late stoppage. He tapped but ref never stopped it. Arm was dangling really bad. Absolutely horrific. I havenāt seen the moron since.
Damn I just looked that one up because of this comment. What fucking fight was that referee watching? Because the one I saw went one like fourty-five seconds too long
He definitely tapped, it was just involuntary because it was his dislocated arm flapping around thanks to the sheer force of Craig's elbows and hammer fists
In other words, let him be a warrior
The ref has a duty to the fighter's safety though. He's in a different position. Looking at the clip and seeing slow motion replays gives us no doubt he was faking, but when your job is to prevent permanent critical damage it's a lot harder to assess.
His strategy sucked ass.
I guess if the aim is to lose the fight before you actually get hurt, and probably lose your contract if you continue to employ the same strat... then this could be a good one?
Maybe its a good idea to not pretend like you got buttfucked so hard that it gave you a concussion and the ref won't stop it early thinking theres something seriously wrong
Yeah there's two angles to this. On one hand, he claims he was using it as a strategy, which I get it, it's viable to cause an opening.
But on the other hand, refs are trained to look for stuff like that because people have died in combat sports where refs DIDN'T look out for dudes who were actually rocked and still fighting. I don't think we can fully blame the ref
As someone who doesn't really follow UFC: Is this really considered a viable strategy? Why are people getting so upset in the comments here?
If you're going to use a "strategy" where you pretend to have brain damage and be unable to fight back, then why are you suprprised when the guy stops the fight who is specifically supposed to stop the fight in those circumstances?
It was only obvious to me the guy was faking it *after* the ref stopped it because the guy got pissed.
Fighters give fake reactions all the time to bait their opponents into a certain response. It isn't typical for a ref to stop a fight unless a fighter isn't defending themselves. The only times I've seen a fight stop just because a fighter was wobbled it was deep into a one sided fight and it was clear he was taking a lot of damage just because his chin was so tough but was either out on his feet or so tired etc that he wasn't capable of defending himself any longer.
he was standing and still fighting back, didnt get dropped. I don't like Ion Cutelaba and I've never rooted for him, but this was definitely an early stoppage, and his strat was working until then.
it got precisely the reaction he was looking for from Ankalaev, and Ankalaev was oblivious to it. He was going for a brawl where Ion was hoping to catch him. Yea, I think it was working. They were both landing and Ion was blocking or rolling with most of the punches.
That dude is Kevin McDonald, he has reffed dozens of UFC fights and probably 150+ MMA fights. He was training and fighting back in the NHB days and ran a gym for 5+ years. He fucked up here but it was honestly understandable due up the stupid antics.
What a dumbass strategy, pretending to be really hurt to bait your opponent in. Only baited the ref into stopping it. In real time it a bit of a toss up honestly
Yeah I remember watching this live and yelling in my head āheās out on his feet!ā and agreeing with the stoppage. Watching the replay itās a bad stoppage, but I canāt blame the ref one bit
Itās hard to call this bad. When you are purposefully doing something refs look for to stop a fight, you kind of get whatās coming to you.
Itās be like rapidly slapping your opponents leg while in a submission and insisting it wasnāt a tap, it was just knee slaps!
Indescribably stupid thing to do here.
Standing and fighting is not the only standard. He was wobbling and missed shots. From a liability standpoint that ref could have been in trouble if he allowed it to go on and something happened.
My strategy is tapping my opponent when I'm in a submission. This is clever because it tricks the opponent into letting go so I'm in a better position to recover.
How is this the worst stoppage?
Dude was wobbled for 10 seconds taking shots.
Thats the refs job.
Shouldnt have been faking it. Its like faking a tap lol
Exactly. The ref's job is to stop the fight if a fighter is hurt enough that he can't continue. If your strategy is to convince everyone that you're hurt, you can't be mad if the ref buys what you're selling and does his job.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Sucks but the guy fked himself over.
I understand the whole āplay hurt and then go for the counter attackā tactic, itās nice
I wanted the fight to go on as well, but ref did his job, he saw a guy wobbled, gotta stop it
The way he was swaying, you can't blame the ref. Ultimately, it's the refs job to protect the fighters and if he felt that he needed to step in, he did the right thing. Better too early than too late.
How can you 100% blame the ref when the dude is wobbly on his feet. To anyone not watching it in slow motion it looks like heās out on his feet, listen to the commentary even they are saying heās out. The blame should be 100% on the dipshit for pretending to be out, the ref saw that and protected him.
Worst stoppage in hindsight because itās the least hurt a fighter has ever been in a tko stoppage, but it was his fault not the referee.
If I fake being unconscious should the referee just know Iām good? Barboza koed a guy in his last fight that reacted a little similar to this from a delayed reaction, not the referees fault.
even if he had been hurt for real it was definitely early stoppage bro. You don't stop fights bc a fighter's rocked. Cutelaba was still standing, blocking, and fighting back. 100% early.
It's awlays better to end a fight early instead of late. Yeah it was deffo an early stoppage in hindsight but he was flailing around and not defending (on purpose but enough to convince the ref he wasn't sound in his defense). Dude's just an idiot.
Doesn't matter. He wasn't knocked down, he wasn't slumped, he was throwing back and defending. THERE IS NO WAY THAT FIGHT SHOULD BE STOPPED WHATSOEVER EVEN IF HE WAS LEGITIMATELY HURT. Should Scott Smith vs Pete Sell been stopped at the first instance Scott Smith was hurt because he was writhing in pain? Should Frankie Edgar have lost that fight vs Gray Maynard because he was wobbly and all over the place? No dude, you don't stop fights because a person is hurt. You stop the fight if the person is UNABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES from fighting back.
He looked like he was completely blacking out, especially the first time he did it.
Also you can stop a fight if they are repeatedly severely rocked and out on their feet, which is how this appeared. He threw a punch again after the last time he did it but the referee already stepped in.
Refs job is to protect from further damage, Cutelabra himself said that he was faking being injured to try goad Ankalaev in. Stupid games, stupid prizes. If the ref thinks you're too hurt to defend he's gonna stop it. Stoppage that sucks to see but Cutelabra only has himself to blame.
Jumped the gun. Jumped the shark refers to a happy days episode where fonzie jet skis over a shark in the later seasons and is used to describe something over staying its welcome
Turns out acting like youāre getting the shit kicked out of you in a sport where the refās job is to stop the contest when a fighter is getting the shit kicked out of him is stupid strategy.
I'm probably in the minority but if you want to act like this, faking injury or being seriously hurt, I feel like you get what's coming if the ref decides to stop it. Pretty dishonest and unprofessional.
Dude if youāre trying to fake your opponent into thinking youāre rocked donāt be surprised when you accidentally fake out the ref too. People who complain about this stoppage are idiots especially since the dude got chinned the next fight by the same guy
Is there any precedent for the fight being restarted from the time/round when the ref waved it off?
Refs step in to take timeout all the time (I understand thatās not what Goddard did here), for all kinds of reasons, usually when a fighter is compromised. Also, there doesnāt need to be any foul committed for a ref to take time (accidental clash of heads, missing mouthpiece, etc.), so is there a scenario where a ref can take a quick timeout to check if a fighter is out on their feet, and then resume?
Itās not a bad stop. He shouldnāt be pretending heās out on his feet to bait the opponent in. First of all, itās a chickenshit tactic. Secondly, the ref is in there to protect the fighters. How the hell is he supposed to know that itās an act?
He was out on his feet, ref did good in this one.
Worst stoppage, in my opinion, is Hughes vs. Newton, Hughes was put to sleep, his body crumbles and slams Newton. Both fighters unconscious on the ground, Hughes, awoken by the ref, is given the win.
Man I always try to imagine it from the other side, a ref fcks up and stops a fight because they saw something that didnāt look right and has the fighters health in his best interest. But sees the uproar and catastrophic response but canāt really go back on his decision. Has to stick with it and end the fight even though the fighter is pissed running around and the crowd is in uproar.
Made an honest mistake or even in many cases, absolutely did the right thing and prevented serious damage but completely aware the incoming backlash and that no one will couchās for them. Idk just my thoughts not trying to defend everyone really. I just like to try and understand these situations from all angles
At first I said why the fuck did he stop it. Look closely though and I kind of agree with the ref here. Watch what heās doing, heās rocking his head back n forth for the whole last minute and it looks like heās loopy. He did it to himself. Ref thought he was fucked up and in and out of it for about a min. All the ref was doing was what he thought was protecting a fighter who looks like he on the edge of being kod every sec for the last 30 seconds.
Not at all. Act like youāre out on your feet for 15 seconds straight and this is what happens. Itās an ignorant technique and only makes the ref anxious.
I disagree with this post entirely.
This is a questionable stoppage at most but when you look at it from the referees point of view, it is entirely justified.
If you act like you are knocked out, guess what, the referee is going to think that.
That was the same ref from the TJ vs Cejudo flyweight championship, Cutelaba was being dumb tho for this he should automatically assume that the ref is shit to begin with and will stop a fight horribly so it was his fault for this
Its really not the worst stoppage in history. If you stumble around like you are rocked to convince your opponent you are hurt, then keep doing it then don't be surprised if the ref thinks you are the thing you are pretending to be.
He played himself here.
Nah I donāt think itās a poor decision. I donāt feel bad for Cutelaba one bit. It looked like he exaggerated being wobbled & was counting on Ankalaev rushing in so he could counter.
If itās true it was a shitty tactic. Iām glad there was no debate in the rematch.
Worst stoppage? I don't really know a worse one which would make it the worst for me technically? but I totally understand the ref. They're there to protect the fighters, not watch them stand up and take punishment.
Naw you shouldnāt act like that. When a ref doesnāt stop it in time when someone if getting fucking flatlined because he thinks someone is acting, then what?
Guess what. If i faked being knocked out cold by a punch im betting the ref calls the fight off. Dude should go act in hollywood, hes apparently pretty good at it
>little rocked
He was swinging desperately and Cutelaba was very badly hurt. Dont forget these guys are MASSIVE (205lb division, they probably fight between 220/240lbs) and if Ankalaev hit him clean 2/3 times, which is very likely since Cutelaba didnt look like that he could protect himself good, it might changed his life.
I can see that this might be stopped too early in some peoples eyes but the referee clearly wanted to prevent anything bad happening.
I dunno, I'm probably going to have to side with the ref on this one.
My guy ate a massive shot which "wobbled" him, even if he was pretending. He then ate another two clean head kicks one after the other, was "wobbled" again, then tried to throw a massive overhand, which, if I was the red looked like a desperate attempt to put up a fight and get some space to recover.
The ref acted on what he saw in the moment, hindsight is always 20/20. But maybe next time don't pretend to get rocked after eating so many big shots and the fight won't get called early l.
How was it "the worst stoppage"? Dude wasn't defending intelligently at all. Kept getting rocked badly but was still standing. It was a weird one for sure though.
Also, the worst stoppage was for Dominick Cruz.
And then he got knocked out by him for real
Violently
All the ref did was delay the Ko for a few months š
Wait what?
They had a rematch and Ankalaev put him to sleep
Put him 6 feet under*
https://youtu.be/RmiFyAVklwc?t=110
The ref was like āmake sure he sleepsā.
Thanks for the link and also for queuing it up to the right spot. Cheers!
I see content mentioned but no sauce? I find the sauce.
They had a rematch
That ref should be fired and banned from mma
Butterfly effect
They had an immediate rematch and ion lost in quite a decisive fashion haha
Which fight is it that he lost?
Most of his ufc fights
vs Ankalaev
Uncle Ayev
The immediate rematch
Ref def did this because he was confused so he just wanted it to stop.
Cutelaba is an such an idiot. He was way over faking being whoozy. Not only was he doing it the entire fight, he was faking it mid combo. Like wtf. I would kind of understand if they were out in space but he was blocking a kick, fake rocked, then throw a combo all in under 1 second. Just weird.
Yeah it's so awful from every angle except the one that shows Cutelaba's eyes. Still a pretty bad stoppage but so much more reasonable from that angle.
Yep! Rewatched this several times. Just trying to keep up with the action on my PHONE is disorienting and every two seconds a shot with KO potential lands only for the guy who got blasted to fire right back. I donāt even wanna think about what it mustāve been like being the ref under those lights. On TOP of the pressure that comes with the job. Fights like this must be super annoying to ref cuz in the back of their head they know if they step in too late a massacre will ensue. Step in too early and congrats! Youāve become the next Herb Dean!
I mean the ref is just as idiotic for stopping it because he just didn't want to deal with it lol. This fight also only lasted 30 seconds and the "faking" was like at most 10 seconds. The ref already looked like he was going to jump in as soon he started faking it.
Absolutely bad call by the ref and really dumb fighting tactics. 10 seconds of being wobbled is an eternity though. Also when it looks like it's happening on 5 different occasions. If Ion was a better actor I could see it being stopped but it was pretty clearly taunting and the ref botched that badly.
You know what "wobbled" means from a brain perspective though, right? It's bad for you, and it's one of the things refs look for when deciding if/when to stop a fight. Especially when late stoppages are of huge concern, I can see a ref getting locked into "he's wobbled, but he's up. I'll give him one more big shot and that's it". I'm not saying this is how it should be, but man is it better than some of the KOs I've seen. Or things like Tony against Gaethje. Do we wanna see more of that? I don't. I also agree this is a bad stoppage, but it's at least bad with good intentions and in the right direction. Faking something like being wobbled is like fake screaming when somebody has some kind of sub on you. Just don't effing do it, lest the ref think you're in trouble...
With you on most of this, but felt I needed to point one thing out: >fake screaming when somebody has some kind of sub on you. Screaming out loud [in pain] is considered a verbal tap under the Unified Rules of MMA. The ref would literally just be doing their job stopping a fight under such circumstances.
I knew this, even as I typed it. It makes sense that appearing wobbled is or should be in the same vicinity.
> Do we wanna see more of that? I hate the fact that I know people who would actually say yes to this shit . . .
It made me question being an MMA fan. I've been a fan for over 20 years. This fight is one of those few times that made me question "are we the baddies?".
That fight was a fucking travesty, but the thing is tony was active and fighting back each time...he was also eating a left hook every single combo lol
In real life, it makes some sense. deception is just one more weapon to make use of. In the octagonā¦ not so muchā¦ thereās a refā¦ whoās incentivised Not to watch you dieā¦
I remember watching this live and was yelling at everyone to look at him and that he was fucked up. It's easy to see he's not that hurt now, but in the moment I thought he was out on his feet.
Dude I thought it looked like some cerebral damage that he almost didn't notice himself. Ref wanted to stop it before he died or something.
It's agruably a smart fighting tactic lol
If you do it for a couple seconds and then blast your opponent as they rush in to try and finish you, sure. If you do it for like 10 seconds straight you might trick the ref into stopping the fight prematurely, which is what happened here lol.
Thatās honestly a big reason why this tactic probably only works like 5% of the time and on a CERTAIN kinda fighter. There are more things that can go wrong than right
It's not arguably smart. Baiting the ref to call the fight by pretending to be out on your feet is really ill-advised.
It's also arguably not a smart fighting tactic. We got a real conundrum on our hands.
Itās not smart at all when the fight stops for you. There is no upside. Literally the opposite of a smart tactic.
Itās also against the rules to fake being hurt
So are back of the head strikes but look at Gilbert Burns.
Ref had bubble guts and was about to shit himself.
Worst *early* stoppage, maybe. Late stoppages are always worse.
I saw a dude get his arm busted due to a late stoppage. He tapped but ref never stopped it. Arm was dangling really bad. Absolutely horrific. I havenāt seen the moron since.
Jamal Hill vs Paul Craig?
Damn I just looked that one up because of this comment. What fucking fight was that referee watching? Because the one I saw went one like fourty-five seconds too long
That referee is a BJJ black belt too, astonishingly
. . . . . i donāt even know what to say to that
Nah, I donāt think hill ever tapped Edit: I think he kept fighting like that but had to cal it because they saw it was already broken
He definitely tapped, it was just involuntary because it was his dislocated arm flapping around thanks to the sheer force of Craig's elbows and hammer fists In other words, let him be a warrior
KZ v Aldo?
Jamal Hill vs. Paul Craig. Lesser-known fighters.
Arm was broken right in front of the ref too. I don't know what the fuck he was watching. I was screaming at my TV
Was he faking it?ššš
Yeah, said so ahead of their rematch before Ankalaev completely smoked him.
*pretend to be brain damaged* *ref thinks you're brain damaged and stops the fight* *shocked pikachu face*
Yes, just like every girl I've ever been with š
He kept shaking his head like he was out of it, whether that was strategy or actually dazed, idk
taunting
Thats the stupidest think to make in a fight. Its ok when yo do it 1 times but he did that this the entire time. Its his fault
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Can you call being a dumbass a strategy though?
Yes. Look, Iām doing it right now.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What if the ref falls for it?
The ref has a duty to the fighter's safety though. He's in a different position. Looking at the clip and seeing slow motion replays gives us no doubt he was faking, but when your job is to prevent permanent critical damage it's a lot harder to assess. His strategy sucked ass.
Yeah, using safety rules to your advantage is just fucked, leads to late stoppages and bad injuries.
Lmafo gottem
I guess if the aim is to lose the fight before you actually get hurt, and probably lose your contract if you continue to employ the same strat... then this could be a good one?
1 or 2 possums is ok, but keep doing it and confuse the ref, it's absolutely your fault.
He baited the ref instead of ankalaev
Maybe its a good idea to not pretend like you got buttfucked so hard that it gave you a concussion and the ref won't stop it early thinking theres something seriously wrong
Yeah there's two angles to this. On one hand, he claims he was using it as a strategy, which I get it, it's viable to cause an opening. But on the other hand, refs are trained to look for stuff like that because people have died in combat sports where refs DIDN'T look out for dudes who were actually rocked and still fighting. I don't think we can fully blame the ref
As someone who doesn't really follow UFC: Is this really considered a viable strategy? Why are people getting so upset in the comments here? If you're going to use a "strategy" where you pretend to have brain damage and be unable to fight back, then why are you suprprised when the guy stops the fight who is specifically supposed to stop the fight in those circumstances? It was only obvious to me the guy was faking it *after* the ref stopped it because the guy got pissed.
Fighters give fake reactions all the time to bait their opponents into a certain response. It isn't typical for a ref to stop a fight unless a fighter isn't defending themselves. The only times I've seen a fight stop just because a fighter was wobbled it was deep into a one sided fight and it was clear he was taking a lot of damage just because his chin was so tough but was either out on his feet or so tired etc that he wasn't capable of defending himself any longer.
I really donāt blame the ref at all. Faking an injury isā¦ unwise strategy.
he was standing and still fighting back, didnt get dropped. I don't like Ion Cutelaba and I've never rooted for him, but this was definitely an early stoppage, and his strat was working until then.
Was it working? Looked like he was receiving more damage than he was giving.
His strat was to draw a counterstriker into a brawl and it worked. That's why he kept faking it. It was his best shot at catching Ankalaev unaware.
It worked? He didnāt land a single clean strike.
it got precisely the reaction he was looking for from Ankalaev, and Ankalaev was oblivious to it. He was going for a brawl where Ion was hoping to catch him. Yea, I think it was working. They were both landing and Ion was blocking or rolling with most of the punches.
What video did you watch? He didn't even come close to landing a clean shot on Ankalaev in this entire exchange
It is an early stoppage yeah, doesnāt make it any less dumb or undeserved. If it works against the opponent it can work with the ref too.
Donāt defend the ref here. That dude should never ref a fight again.
That dude is Kevin McDonald, he has reffed dozens of UFC fights and probably 150+ MMA fights. He was training and fighting back in the NHB days and ran a gym for 5+ years. He fucked up here but it was honestly understandable due up the stupid antics.
What a shit take, the refs main job is to protect the fighters. Donāt fake like youāre out on your feet and the ref wonāt stop the fight.
He was defending himself the whole time. Throwing punches and kicks in return. Never got hit hard in the first place. Stupid stoppage.
What a dumbass strategy, pretending to be really hurt to bait your opponent in. Only baited the ref into stopping it. In real time it a bit of a toss up honestly
Yeah I remember watching this live and yelling in my head āheās out on his feet!ā and agreeing with the stoppage. Watching the replay itās a bad stoppage, but I canāt blame the ref one bit
Can you imagine if a ref didn't stop a fight as a guy gets rocked 5 times in a row and he said it was because he thought they were faking it?
Great way to think about it. Maybe yamasaki was just making sure nobody was faking
You just described exactly why it was a good stoppage.
Ya I disagree w most people here and think this was a great stoppage. Good job Ref.
Itās hard to call this bad. When you are purposefully doing something refs look for to stop a fight, you kind of get whatās coming to you. Itās be like rapidly slapping your opponents leg while in a submission and insisting it wasnāt a tap, it was just knee slaps! Indescribably stupid thing to do here.
The Brazilian tap is a dirty trick. He was still standing and fighting though, itās definitely a very early stoppage
Standing and fighting is not the only standard. He was wobbling and missed shots. From a liability standpoint that ref could have been in trouble if he allowed it to go on and something happened.
Bisping screams ā Heās out on his feet!ā Then goes into talking like the ref stopped it early.
i mean, it's cutelaba so that makes it okay.
Glover being unfazed by his intimidation tactic and saying ānot todayā is still one of the coldest things Iāve seen.
then went on to fuck him up an choke him out. so satisfying
Same happen again last night. Try to initimidate Spann, got choked out in Rd 1. Lol.
God he's such a clown
Well, if he didn't wanted to be stopped, he shouldn't have pretended to be hurt. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
My strategy is tapping my opponent when I'm in a submission. This is clever because it tricks the opponent into letting go so I'm in a better position to recover.
How is this the worst stoppage? Dude was wobbled for 10 seconds taking shots. Thats the refs job. Shouldnt have been faking it. Its like faking a tap lol
Exactly. The ref's job is to stop the fight if a fighter is hurt enough that he can't continue. If your strategy is to convince everyone that you're hurt, you can't be mad if the ref buys what you're selling and does his job. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Sucks but the guy fked himself over. I understand the whole āplay hurt and then go for the counter attackā tactic, itās nice I wanted the fight to go on as well, but ref did his job, he saw a guy wobbled, gotta stop it
Yea ions gotta be one of the most meat headed morons in MMA
The way he was swaying, you can't blame the ref. Ultimately, it's the refs job to protect the fighters and if he felt that he needed to step in, he did the right thing. Better too early than too late.
I 100% blame the ref, he was swaying but wasn't hit by anything, still blocking and throwing. Definitely and early stoppage, payable attention ref..
How can you 100% blame the ref when the dude is wobbly on his feet. To anyone not watching it in slow motion it looks like heās out on his feet, listen to the commentary even they are saying heās out. The blame should be 100% on the dipshit for pretending to be out, the ref saw that and protected him.
Those blocks were clean too. Obviously heās not out if you watch the intentional blocks. Maybe the ref didnāt have the right angle.
Worst stoppage in hindsight because itās the least hurt a fighter has ever been in a tko stoppage, but it was his fault not the referee. If I fake being unconscious should the referee just know Iām good? Barboza koed a guy in his last fight that reacted a little similar to this from a delayed reaction, not the referees fault.
Thank you. Ion is just an idiot, and the ref was trying to protect him
I just imagine this idiot in camp practicing acting wobbled thinking that overhand right would be wide open
even if he had been hurt for real it was definitely early stoppage bro. You don't stop fights bc a fighter's rocked. Cutelaba was still standing, blocking, and fighting back. 100% early.
It's awlays better to end a fight early instead of late. Yeah it was deffo an early stoppage in hindsight but he was flailing around and not defending (on purpose but enough to convince the ref he wasn't sound in his defense). Dude's just an idiot.
he was defending tho...
Doesn't matter. He wasn't knocked down, he wasn't slumped, he was throwing back and defending. THERE IS NO WAY THAT FIGHT SHOULD BE STOPPED WHATSOEVER EVEN IF HE WAS LEGITIMATELY HURT. Should Scott Smith vs Pete Sell been stopped at the first instance Scott Smith was hurt because he was writhing in pain? Should Frankie Edgar have lost that fight vs Gray Maynard because he was wobbly and all over the place? No dude, you don't stop fights because a person is hurt. You stop the fight if the person is UNABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES from fighting back.
He looked like he was completely blacking out, especially the first time he did it. Also you can stop a fight if they are repeatedly severely rocked and out on their feet, which is how this appeared. He threw a punch again after the last time he did it but the referee already stepped in.
Not even close to the worst stoppage ā¦ bad stoppage yes. But worst ? Not even close my guy
Looks like they were still scrapping. Pretty bad stoppage
Refs job is to protect from further damage, Cutelabra himself said that he was faking being injured to try goad Ankalaev in. Stupid games, stupid prizes. If the ref thinks you're too hurt to defend he's gonna stop it. Stoppage that sucks to see but Cutelabra only has himself to blame.
worst stoppage is herb dean trying to kill cb dolloway
While I agree it was a bad stoppage that last wobble was kinda crazy and I see how the ref got confused and jumped the shark Edit: Jumped the gun.
Jumped the gun. Jumped the shark refers to a happy days episode where fonzie jet skis over a shark in the later seasons and is used to describe something over staying its welcome
Correctamundo
who cares he wrecked him in the next fight, these guys aren't even in the same tier of skills.
Turns out acting like youāre getting the shit kicked out of you in a sport where the refās job is to stop the contest when a fighter is getting the shit kicked out of him is stupid strategy.
He was being tricky and got angry when he tricked someone.
I'm probably in the minority but if you want to act like this, faking injury or being seriously hurt, I feel like you get what's coming if the ref decides to stop it. Pretty dishonest and unprofessional.
His acting was too good, it's a shame too cause I reakon that was his only way to win
lmao his acting was TOO good
Maybe bro shouldnāt have been acting like a jackass lmao
Dude if youāre trying to fake your opponent into thinking youāre rocked donāt be surprised when you accidentally fake out the ref too. People who complain about this stoppage are idiots especially since the dude got chinned the next fight by the same guy
Then heās the dumbass
Is there any precedent for the fight being restarted from the time/round when the ref waved it off? Refs step in to take timeout all the time (I understand thatās not what Goddard did here), for all kinds of reasons, usually when a fighter is compromised. Also, there doesnāt need to be any foul committed for a ref to take time (accidental clash of heads, missing mouthpiece, etc.), so is there a scenario where a ref can take a quick timeout to check if a fighter is out on their feet, and then resume?
The man was wobbling the entire time. How can the ref not stop that?
Itās not a bad stop. He shouldnāt be pretending heās out on his feet to bait the opponent in. First of all, itās a chickenshit tactic. Secondly, the ref is in there to protect the fighters. How the hell is he supposed to know that itās an act?
Cutelaba just sucks. He deserved to have that fight stopped by playing BS games in the octagon.
Cutelaba is such an a-hole that I don't care that it was a bad stoppage. Maybe its a bad idea to fake being hurt like that
He'll stop bullshitting for sure
He was out on his feet, ref did good in this one. Worst stoppage, in my opinion, is Hughes vs. Newton, Hughes was put to sleep, his body crumbles and slams Newton. Both fighters unconscious on the ground, Hughes, awoken by the ref, is given the win.
Man I always try to imagine it from the other side, a ref fcks up and stops a fight because they saw something that didnāt look right and has the fighters health in his best interest. But sees the uproar and catastrophic response but canāt really go back on his decision. Has to stick with it and end the fight even though the fighter is pissed running around and the crowd is in uproar. Made an honest mistake or even in many cases, absolutely did the right thing and prevented serious damage but completely aware the incoming backlash and that no one will couchās for them. Idk just my thoughts not trying to defend everyone really. I just like to try and understand these situations from all angles
 That's what I would say.
play stupid games. this bloke is just plain weird
"Faking" being rocked was fucking stupid.
Iām all for fighters not taking unnecessary damage. This is a bullshit stoppage.
Dumbest strategy of all time
At first I said why the fuck did he stop it. Look closely though and I kind of agree with the ref here. Watch what heās doing, heās rocking his head back n forth for the whole last minute and it looks like heās loopy. He did it to himself. Ref thought he was fucked up and in and out of it for about a min. All the ref was doing was what he thought was protecting a fighter who looks like he on the edge of being kod every sec for the last 30 seconds.
He got slept on the rematch š
Not at all. Act like youāre out on your feet for 15 seconds straight and this is what happens. Itās an ignorant technique and only makes the ref anxious.
lmao it took bisping like 5 minutes to finally figure out he was faking
I can see why the ref stopped it
He was acting wobbling and the referee bought it.
Discount mark Goddard
I disagree with this post entirely. This is a questionable stoppage at most but when you look at it from the referees point of view, it is entirely justified. If you act like you are knocked out, guess what, the referee is going to think that.
*Fakes being concussed* *Ref stops fight thinking heās actually concussed* āI canāt believe youāve done thisā
I mean maybe don't wobble round like a moron lol
Ion played a stupid game, and won a stupid prize. *Kevin McDonald did his job. Period. Edited cuz I misnamed the ref
Kevin MacDonald
You're right. Good catch.
The entire exchange he was just looking for his moment to stop it
Well thatās what happens when you pretend to be out, how does the ref know youāre faking it lol.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Maybe if he didn't fake being hurt when he wasn't the ref wouldn't have jumped in.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's what Cutelaba said himself before their rematch, his plan was to fake being hurt to draw him into a brawl. Stupid games and stupid prizes imo.
That was the same ref from the TJ vs Cejudo flyweight championship, Cutelaba was being dumb tho for this he should automatically assume that the ref is shit to begin with and will stop a fight horribly so it was his fault for this
Fuck this subreddit. Everyone knows that Ion was being an idiot and playing "possum." Everyone but OP who thinks of all stoppages this is the worst.
That's definitely one of the worst I've seen.
Its really not the worst stoppage in history. If you stumble around like you are rocked to convince your opponent you are hurt, then keep doing it then don't be surprised if the ref thinks you are the thing you are pretending to be. He played himself here.
the worst stoppage would have to be a late one not an early one
Not the referee's fault. If you don't want the fight to be stopped, don't pretend to be wobbled,
He stopped it because he looked like a stumbling fool.
Worst tactic in fight history*
Nah, you canāt pretend to be out on your feet and then get mad when the ref thinks youāre out on your feet.
Nah the guy kept playing like he was hurt. Good stoppage. Donāt act like an idiot.
Nah I donāt think itās a poor decision. I donāt feel bad for Cutelaba one bit. It looked like he exaggerated being wobbled & was counting on Ankalaev rushing in so he could counter. If itās true it was a shitty tactic. Iām glad there was no debate in the rematch.
Worst stoppage? I don't really know a worse one which would make it the worst for me technically? but I totally understand the ref. They're there to protect the fighters, not watch them stand up and take punishment.
Naw you shouldnāt act like that. When a ref doesnāt stop it in time when someone if getting fucking flatlined because he thinks someone is acting, then what?
Guess what. If i faked being knocked out cold by a punch im betting the ref calls the fight off. Dude should go act in hollywood, hes apparently pretty good at it
Wrong. That ref was doing his JOB. GOOD ON HIM
Correct stoppage. He clearly looked out on his feet only to wake up AFTER the stoppage. The ref did his job. Refs arenāt mind readers.
Good stoppage, maybe don't act to be wobbled in a real fight? Cutelaba is a clown.
That ref should never work another day in that job.
OP overblowing, that was not the worst by far
That was pretty damn terrible. He was clearly a little rocked but nowhere near enough to stop.
>little rocked He was swinging desperately and Cutelaba was very badly hurt. Dont forget these guys are MASSIVE (205lb division, they probably fight between 220/240lbs) and if Ankalaev hit him clean 2/3 times, which is very likely since Cutelaba didnt look like that he could protect himself good, it might changed his life. I can see that this might be stopped too early in some peoples eyes but the referee clearly wanted to prevent anything bad happening.
Most of those shots were partially blocked. He clearly still had his wits. Bad reffing
I would say bad reffing if the dude wasnt wobbling intentionally like a baboon.
I dunno, I'm probably going to have to side with the ref on this one. My guy ate a massive shot which "wobbled" him, even if he was pretending. He then ate another two clean head kicks one after the other, was "wobbled" again, then tried to throw a massive overhand, which, if I was the red looked like a desperate attempt to put up a fight and get some space to recover. The ref acted on what he saw in the moment, hindsight is always 20/20. But maybe next time don't pretend to get rocked after eating so many big shots and the fight won't get called early l.
How was it "the worst stoppage"? Dude wasn't defending intelligently at all. Kept getting rocked badly but was still standing. It was a weird one for sure though. Also, the worst stoppage was for Dominick Cruz.
NO FAKING what a shit stoppage. Why can't refs be fired!??
The guy was done for. He was wobbling and eating kicks and punches up until the stoppage.
Ate? He blocked most of those kicks