(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
During a meeting with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, representatives for Brock Lesnar asked that NSAC remove veteran referee Steve Mazzagatti from consideration for UFC 91′s heavyweight title fight between Lesnar and Randy Couture. While reffing Lesnar’s UFC debut against Frank Mir in February, Mazzagatti called for a pause in the action and a point-deduction when Lesnar seemed to be landing punches to the back of Mir’s head — a decision that arguably cost Lesnar the fight. And it sounds like Brock is still sour about it:
[A]ttorneys David Olsen and Brian Stegeman made their aversion to the referee’s presence known…[claiming] Mazzagatti was “involved in what we believe was a controversial ruling in connection with the Mir-Lesnar fight.” They asked that Mazzagatti be removed from consideration for the UFC 91 main event to avoid “distraction” and “any further controversy.”
It’s unclear how much Olsen and Stegeman’s request influenced the final choice of referee for UFC 91′s main event, though Sherdog says Mario Yamasaki will be the one presiding over the bout. I didn’t know fighters could try to veto referees they don’t like, and I wonder if this will set a precedent where everybody begins requesting that Mazzagatti stay out of their fight. After all, Steve’s the genius who let Kevin Burns eye-poke his way to victory, and has been responsible for more than his share of weird stoppages, from the dangerously late (Boetsch/Heath) to the retardedly indecisive (MacDonald/Doerksen).
Still, if I was Randy Couture, I might be concerned. Does this mean that rabbit-punches are still part of Brock’s game-plan?
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Comments
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:00
I like Yamasaki and Ive never found him to make stupid stoppages. And I do agree with Brock as Mazzagatti shouldn't have stopped the fight for one quick punch to mir inflated head. That fight would habe been over and Brock would be 3-0.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:07
Fenix I agree with you on this but... it does set a dangerous precident. What if another fighter makes the same request and its denied next time around? What then? Would that fighter have a case for discrimination? Would this lead people who dont watch MMA all the time to start screaming that the fight was a possible fix? I just dont think that a fighter should have this right to choose who is NOT going to ref a fight.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:09
It should also be stated that at the same meeting the President of the Nevada Athletic Commission stood up and praised Mazzagatti for doing such a great job during that fight. So there was an opposing view given to the selection board.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:30
I also believe that Mir was in a world of shit when that fight was stopped and the fighters were restarted. Lesnar would have won that fight. Lesnar has a point but wouldn't it be funny if they replace mazzagati with that Dan "Get me a bigger shirt" Mirgliatoo-whatsit or what ever the hell his name is. That guy sucks at reffing.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:30
Lesnar probably wants Dan "Early Stoppage" Miragliotta in the cage so he can drop a couple of shots on Randy and get the undeserved TKO. Miragliotta stepped in WAY too early in teh Werdum-Vera fight at UFC 85 and of course the EliteXC fiasco between Slice and Thompson was all his.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:31
Mir took at least four shots to the back of the head in that fight; go watch it again. Controversial stand up? Sure. Would Brock have won if not for that stand up? Possibly. I'm not a fan of Lesnar's and the fact that he made a request of this sort makes me like him even less.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:34
On one hand, I don't think that those punches would have caused an immediate point deduction for any other fighter, they would have had multiple warnings about it first. However Lesnar is huge and needs to be careful with those type of punches because throwing with the power he does can cause quick problems with punches to the back of the head and he needs to learn. I do agree thought that had the fight not been stopped at that point Lesnar likely would have had a KO win and also that its hard to not punch someone in the back of the head when as your hand is coming down they turn their head to the side as Mir did
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:46
"from the dangerously late (Boetsch/Heath) to the retardedly indecisive (MacDonald/Doerksen)." While I agree that Steve-O has been a part of some questionable refereeing, I have to point out that he was not the referee during the Boetsch/Heath fight. Herb Dean was the ref during that fight. Also...you think the stoppage was late? I dunno...I thought it was at the right time..
Thu, 10/23/08 - 02:48
^^ he had warnings, both before and during the fight. It was a good stand-up. Why do people think Brock has such great power for GnP? He didn't even hurt Mir and he couldn't finish a half-blind Herring. If he hit half as hard as his fanboys think he does, he'd have killed both of them. I'm a little pissed at Sherdog for making me agree with Kizer, but I'm pissed at Kizer for not telling Brock to go fuck himself and putting Mario in there just to stop the precedent before it gains momentum. rh
Thu, 10/23/08 - 03:21
@ SL IT WAS ONE SHOOOOOOOOOT!!!!! You say "look at the video", how bout YOU go look at the video. http://www.blinkx.com/video/ufc-81-brock-lesnar-vs-frank-mir/kNJj5_0dpfJLqlJbdB-k1Q They even do a slo-mo replay and Joe Rogan sais it right there. It was one shot. It shouldnt have been stopped and Lesnar should be 3-0. Im not even the biggest Lesnar fan but its the truth.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 03:24
brock has the most power in all the ufc, and the way he was handeling mir reminded me of that video where the elephant turns on his trainer, do you not realize that that fist shot on herring that sent him summersaulting accross the cage actually shattered his orbital bone, i dont think anyone in the ufc hits as hard as lesnar
Thu, 10/23/08 - 03:37
@ Fenix I actually said 'watch the video,' not 'look at the replay that doesn't show the first two or three shots to the back of the head that happen several seconds before the last two that causes Maz to stop the fight and that are not, once again, included in the replay,' because, you know, that would just be too long-winded and kind of repetitive. Also, you seem to have selective hearing in mentioning what Joe Rogan says while neglecting to mention what Goldberg says right after. If you want to make excuses for Lesnar or be indignant about the entire situation, go ahead, but don't piss your pants if I can't agree with your assessment.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 03:53
I need to jump in on this. Some of this has already been posted. It was one shot, I've watched the sequence plenty of times. The shot was the result of Mir turning his head during the punch. The stand up should not have happened, and a point deduction with no first time warning? I don't care if he talked to them prefight, they always do that. You still give an in fight first warning. Mir looked like he took 3 rounds of beating in 30 seconds. Heath Herring fight. First punch makes him do a BACKWARDS SOMERSAULT and breaks his orbital bone. Brock, smartly in my opinion, does not get over aggressive trying to end the fight like he did with Mir. That is the reason for not finishing Herring. He controlled the fight, completely dominated Heath and stayed in good positions. If he would have got all crazy, Herring might have pulled a submission on him like Mir did. Wait until he learns how to avoid submissions, fights won't last 30 seconds. I've got news for Lesnar haters. He's here, he's good, and he's only gonna get better. I love MMA and I love Couture but Brock is going to dominate him from start to finish. If Brock and Mir fought today, Brock would dominate him. The problem is that the fights are going to be fairly boring. A lot of controlling and careful GnP. The only person I see in the UFC right now that could beat him is Nog, who can take LOADS of punishment and pull off submissions from awkward positions after his opponent wears out. Nog will make Mir look like a child by the way.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 04:37
Impartial bystander Preach on mah brotha!!! :P
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:01
Sorry guys, but Mir definitely took multiple shots to the back of the head. Now, maybe it shouldn't have been a point deduction, and Mir definitely turned his head, but it's on Lesnar to control his punches better. Brock messed up, and that's what cost him the fight. I wouldn't even go as far as to say that Brock is a top tier fighter yet. Give him another 1 - 1 1/2 years, and let him finish some quality fighters, and he could end up being one of the greats, but it's hard to say that already when the guy has only won two fights in his career, just because he is freakishly strong. With that being said, I do think that Brock will take Couture. I hope I'm wrong.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:13
After Herb Dean's stoppage in the 2nd Tito-Shamrock fight, I seem to remember Ken successfully lobbying to prevent Herb from reffing the third fight with Big John doing the job instead.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:15
rabbit punches??? i bet those rabbit punches feel like some dropping bricks 6 inches above your face...try it out and tell me how that feels?
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:18
Yves Lavign is the best MMA ref around. When I saw him in Bodog forever-ago, I thought, "This guy is good." After Bodog went belly up, he popped up in the UFC. He reffed Big Nog's fight with Herring and gave Nog the benefit of the doubt when Herring blasted him. That turned out to be a great call. Yves always gives vets a long time to recover and his decision making in all the fights I've seen has been impeccable. He's pro'lly got a couple flubs out there (all refs with lots of fights on their record do, eventually) but, in my opinion, he's the best.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:25
Jugger - Agreed, since Big John "retired" Yve is the best. I think the tough thing about saying there were ____ punches to the back of the head depends on the persons definition of back of the head. Some think it is anything behind where a pair of head phones would be, which is false. The dangerous area is around where the skull meets the spine. But no group seems to be willing to define exactly what that area is for the rule book.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 05:28
and even I can admit that Mir took only one illegal shot to the back of the head. He took a couple to the area between the side and back of the head--and that was because he was moving his head. There were also a couple of shots that, at first viewing, looked like they hit the back of his head, but in truth were glancing shots that may have grazed him, nothing more. There should not have been a stand-up or deduction. That said, I do think Mir would have rolled out and still submitted Lesnar even without the stand-up--assuming Maz didn't stop the fight early. Big assumption, I know.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 06:10
Even though I am not a Lesnar fan......I agree with this 100%. That was the buggest bunch of horseshit when Pornstache took away a point and stood them up. Almost EVERY fight Pornstache refs......he gives out 3,5, 8, sometimes 12 warnings...or more "watch the back of the head, don't strike back of the head"...But Lesnar immediately, after NO WARNING gets a point deducted and a stand up. Since that fight....I have watch Pornstache closely in ALL fights that he refs. It is amazing how many warnings he gives out, and RARELY takes away a point. One I can remember was one of the CB Dollaway fights on TUF. P-Stache must of gave him a 5,6, maybe 8 warnings, but NO deduct or stand up. He even warned AGAIN between rounds. He has DONE that MANY, MANY times....but Brock got SCREWED, BAD!!!.
Thu, 10/23/08 - 06:34
although in the long run the fact brock lost that fight to mir is probably going to be beneficial to brock, in the sense that he stepped back and and took a good look at himself
Thu, 10/23/08 - 06:54
Remember in the Ortiz vs Machida match when Yves fell on his ass, jumped right back up and started cracking up. Man that was awesome! I cant tell you how many times I rewinded that. http://www.fighttips.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=31&topic=1144.0
Thu, 10/23/08 - 09:39
Did anyone else notice that Steve's reliability went down when he shaved his porn 'stache?
Thu, 10/23/08 - 10:29
@ Schott Whitt, I did notice that. I also think that real champion wouldn't have made a big fuss about it. Brock making a big deal about it shows that he's already looking for excuses in case he gets his bell rung by an older guy (who happens to be a real champ).
Thu, 10/23/08 - 10:30
Say what you want about Mazzagati...I personally loved to watch Heath's Sling Blade-esque stare as Boetsch beat his face in
Fri, 10/24/08 - 07:00
"Representatives for Brock Lesnar asked that NSAC remove veteran referee Steve Mazzagatti from consideration for UFC 91’s heavyweight title fight between Lesnar and Randy Couture" wow fighters chooses referee? If he fights clean he would not worry about the referee. Fighters fight.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 07:01
"Representatives for Brock Lesnar asked that NSAC remove veteran referee Steve Mazzagatti from consideration for UFC 91’s heavyweight title fight between Lesnar and Randy Couture" wow fighters chooses referee? If he fights clean he should not worry about the referee. Fighters fight.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 07:02
wow fighters chooses referee? If he fights clean he should not worry about the referee. Fighters fight.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 09:08
Thank you boink, I think we get the point. Also, Lesnar SMASH!! Randy RETIRE!!
Fri, 10/24/08 - 11:58
I am a big Couture fan, as much so as I cant stand Lesnar. With that being said.....I feel that Randy is going to get hurt and hurt bad, like retirement hurt in this fight. UFC accomplishes wht they wanted plus some........ They "get" back at Randy by putting him the cage with a gorilla on steroids, all the same thing making him think that they (UFC) also believe that Randy will figure out how to beat him. You dont mess with the UFC and get away with it. They get to make a shitload of money out of him at least one last time. They take Randy away from Affliction. And with a devastating loss......the Fedor fight is not a concern anymore I personally think the UFC is setting up Randy to get embarrassed and badly and ruin any further chance of making big money fights ever again in his career.....And by the chance that Randy wins.......The UFC still can make money of him ONEmore time, before feeding him to wolves. A win, win, win situation
Fri, 10/24/08 - 03:01
@SL He didn't take four shots to the back of the head there were no warning everyone needs to stop riding brocks ass.. Seriously.. Fuck it let me put all my faith behind brock this fight is NOW a Passing of the torch seriously don't be retarded we all saw the fight on spike we know when someone is BSing. K thx. @FENIX and Tom: It's good to see some people here know facts and don't just hate out what there jealous of <3 thx guys. @Darkside: Watch the video fuck up and go Join your buddy SL for lessons in MMA, FYI Mir did turn his head into that I completely believe its true that he new what would happen.. Just because Brock spent a few years in the WWE he gets treated like that? STFU Ontop of things I think it is a fighters right to ask for an impartial judge who isn't a fucking retard with a long resume of fucking up. A referee who know what the fuck he's doing and I think we got that now so you fucking tools bringing that shit into question need to just forget about it. None of the Brock posts have been anything but a hate fest and god knows I want him to beat randy so I can come on here and listen to how he got lucky and it'll never happen again and blah blah blah.. Bunch of fucking scrubby haters who can't be objective and enjoy the fucking sport stop PLAYING favorites thx. PPS: I hope cote wins to :D I love the drama you retards bring to the table. Keeps me entertained in my drunken states @ UFC PPV's
Fri, 10/24/08 - 03:50
I've wondered how some of those Scandinavian "World's Strongest Man" freaks would perform inside The Octagon...and with Brock Lesnar...now we know! Frank Mir was this close to becoming Frank "MERE"... and I don't think Lesnar's going to make the same mistake twice. Randy Couture's gonna look like "Mini-Me" and get thrown around like a crash dummy. I respect everything that Randy's done for the sport and pray that he comes out of their match with the potential to lead somewhat of a quality life. You know, gentlemen, looking at Lesnar...I find it real difficult to believe that the phuckin' beast weighs in at only 15 pounds over Oprah.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 06:26
I think Dana White has a hard-on for Brock Lesnar.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 10:51
Personally I didn't agree with point deduction; however I do think the action should have been stopped and a warning issued. Those arn't normal fists hes hitting him with... lol. I don't mind brock, I think he shows promise, he shouldn't get a title shot though; not even close. Not only that: Brock Lesnar (265) vs. Frank Mir (255) and he made Mir look pretty damn small in comparison. I'm very surprised he even makes wait, and suspicious. "I think Dana White has a hard-on for Brock Lesnar." I have to agree.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 10:54
oh and trying to pick the ref; not cool. Put in the work like everyone else big guy. "Me big, me smash" will only go so far.
Fri, 10/24/08 - 11:40
if i's Couture i'd come out cheatin my ass off...fake kick superman bash to the throat while spitting Tobasco in his eyes four hook combo to the neck soccer kicks to the crotch kick the fuk outta his kidneys to get him on the ground plant one knee across his throat grab that huge fukin mellon and wail away with knees to his temple. but might want to start by knockin out the ref so he can't dive in. yyyyyyup...that'd be my game plan...)
Sat, 10/25/08 - 04:15
Best Refs (Current): 1. Lavigne 2. Yamasaki 3. Dean 4. Miragliota 5. Mazzagatti All Time: McCarthy Agree with the poster above, Mazzagatti's credibility went down after he shaved the 'stache.
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