For those who watched Jamie Varner upset “Razor” Rob McCullough last week at WEC: “Condit vs. Prater” to capture the WEC Lightweight title, you witnessed a rarity in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition.
During the early stages of the third round, Razor stepped up his game oh so briefly from his performance in the first two rounds and hit Varner with a solid punch, causing “The Worm” to lose his mouthpiece.
Varner immediately shot for the takedown, which resulted in McCullough taking the top position and trying to get in some ground and pound. Varner was able to get up from the ground and, in a surprising move, he called a timeout to get his mouthpiece.
Fighters are not allowed to request timeouts in MMA. Nonetheless, the ref took Varner’s cue and stopped the action.
The Worm’s corner washed out his mouthpiece before restarting the action. This delay in the action some say caused Varner to recoup. However, he sees it different as told to AdCombat.com.
Here’s the snip:
“The fact is that was the first break in the action. When Rob hit me, I went into survival mode and went for the takedown. Rob was on top of me trying to finish. When I got up he backed away and I called for my mouthpiece. Rob could have rushed me and I was watching him for that. The referee saw the break and that Rob was backing up not moving forward and for my safety he allowed me to get my mouthpiece. I really did not feel like the referee knew or saw any break and he did the right thing allowing Rob to attempt to finish me, when he was able to he gave me the mouthpiece back. Did the mouthpiece rest help me? No I was 13 minutes into the biggest fight of my life, I needed a day to recover not a few seconds. I think it was pretty text book.”
Varner clearly dominated McCullough throughout the entire fight. Varner’s assessment is right on. Even with the clean shot from Razor, “The Worm” was hurt but not so much where he looked disoriented or even close to being stopped.
It’s a weird situation … but much ado about nothing.
36 Comments »
I have no problem with that fight. If Matt Hughes can call multiple timeouts when he is about to loose his title, then this is cool with me.
Mouth-piece-Gate…. i like it!
I completely agree. Plus if the referee allowed it, it is above board
Just further proof that Mazagatti needs to go back to ref school and read up on the rules he is -supposed- to be be enforcing.
Varner caught a lot of crap for signaling for the timeout, but his statement was exactly right. McCullough was not engaging with him at that time and was backing away. Referees have a responsibility to each fighter’s safety, which means replacing lost mouthpieces as soon as possible. Had McCullough been attacking Varner then the fight would have continued. Since he wasn’t the fight was stopped for about 10 seconds. Not a big deal and absolutely the right call.
I will agree that is was NOT his fault. ALthough, the “I think it was pretty textbook” statement is ridiculis.
Sure Pornstache was the one to blame. And just like grabbing on to the fence to prevent a takedown….It is only cheating if you get caught. If the ref lets you get away with it, OR, in this case, HELPS you get away with, more power to you.
Either way dont say it was “pretty textbook”. It was a cheap way to get a breather. Sometimes only a few seconds can be the difference in recovering enough, so not to get KO’d
I think varner statement is a crock of S#@T. When the guy called for the time out he was hurt. Look the fight over. There is a scence of urgence in his eyes crying for steves help. Besides how often does it take that long to clean off a mouthpiece. His corner knew it to. Everyone can argue weather or not rob was getting ready to hop back on him or not. I dont know. What i do know is the time out called by the fighter helped varner recover. AND THE EXTREME OPPOSITE. What about tanks recovery time from getting punched in the back of the head like 5 time from kimbo. That was some bulls@#t. there was none.
the guy won the title in a chicken sh*t way.time out?what is this grade school playing hide and seek.go f*ck yaself varner
No one blames razor rob for not going in for the kill. he backed away and made no effort to further an attack. Besides that one punch, he looked pretty bad all night.
I guess they should just rematch. Varner will likely win again seeing as he is without a doubt the more well rounded mixed martial artist.
[quote comment=”322702″]No one blames razor rob for not going in for the kill. he backed away and made no effort to further an attack. Besides that one punch, he looked pretty bad all night.
I guess they should just rematch. Varner will likely win again seeing as he is without a doubt the more well rounded mixed martial artist.[/quote]
Thats true. Varner made him look like Gabe Ruediger.
my only problem was the bad officiating by Mazagatti. the guy is far from consistant.
I agree on this one, when I was watching it at first I was a little surprised, but I could see that it was a break in action and Razor wasn’t coming for him…
Mazzagati should have called the time out tho’
i had money on varner, but still a little pissed about this incident
[quote comment=”322688″]the guy won the title in a chicken sh*t way.time out?what is this grade school playing hide and seek.go f*ck yaself varner[/quote]
-YOU R just upset varner won.
[quote comment=”322607″]Varner caught a lot of crap for signaling for the timeout, but his statement was exactly right. McCullough was not engaging with him at that time and was backing away. Referees have a responsibility to each fighter’s safety, which means replacing lost mouthpieces as soon as possible. Had McCullough been attacking Varner then the fight would have continued. Since he wasn’t the fight was stopped for about 10 seconds. Not a big deal and absolutely the right call.[/quote]
-Right on the money!
[quote comment=”322576″]I have no problem with that fight. If Matt Hughes can call multiple timeouts when he is about to loose his title, then this is cool with me.
Mouth-piece-Gate…. i like it![/quote]
-AMEN!
Isn’t Mazzagati the same Ref that let a guy in the UFC bleed profusly from an elbow to the head that had the whole mat covered in blood… and then stopped a fight O wait it was the second fight with Tito vs Shamrock…. ???? Totally needs reteaching or just gotten rid of…..
[quote comment=”322589″]Just further proof that Mazagatti needs to go back to ref school and read up on the rules he is -supposed- to be be enforcing.[/quote]
I agree with you, he totally was in survival mode, Rob would have finished him. Mazzagati fucked up BIG, and Varner is just trying to soun very articulate but, that was not cool.
Varner did outstrike Rob but, didnt hurt him Rob conected once and almost finished the fight, and then well “New champ”.
Now we have Varner, BJ, and KJ Noons as champions at LW. BJ takes them all to school.
I was happy to see Jamie take it. He’s paid his dues.
I like Razor Rob, but this mouthpiece thing is insugnificant. They werent engaged and Razor Rob was getting worked anyway. It actually seemed like he didnt mind the breather. He looked pretty gassed during this fight.
[quote comment=”322805″]I like Razor Rob, but this mouthpiece thing is insugnificant. They werent engaged and Razor Rob was getting worked anyway. It actually seemed like he didnt mind the breather. He looked pretty gassed during this fight.[/quote]
I agree. Rob is a great test for newcomers to the WEC. I think he’ll earn a rematch in the near future.
Varner was dominant against the champ who had looked dominant in his first two title fights. I really wonder if Rob was sick or had an injury that he didn’t mention. That just did not look like the same guy I’ve seen fight.
It was messed up that he signaled a time out, but it’s really ref who screwed up by giving it to him. He was rocked, Razor Rob should have gotten the chance to finish him.
Other than that, Varner dominated the fight.
If anyone would watch the replay you can clearly see Jamie was not rocked. He clearly and without wobble backed away from the engagement and reengaged with Mr. Lady Bic Razor and saved he face and mouth by shooting in for a take down. If he would have bitten his tongue off that would have been terrible. To those of you that say Fuck Varner and this time-out won the fight for Jamie. Well you don’t know shit. Rematch???? Lady Bic does not want any part of that shit. Lady Bic was taken to the hospital after the fight. He was pretty beaten up. The ref did not see the mouth piece come out or he would have stopped it anyway.
Thats my 2 cents
[quote comment=”322667″]I think varner statement is a crock of S#@T. When the guy called for the time out he was hurt.[/quote]
It doesn’t matter whether he was hurt or not, the Athletic Commissions require guys to fight with mouthguards in. As soon as there’s a break in the action, the ref has to get it back in the guy’s mouth. The ref also has to give a fighter a timeout when they get kicked in the crotch or punched in the back of the head - whether the fighter was rocked or not isn’t a factor.
I’ve seen mouthguard timeouts before (McFedries vs. Sakara comes to mind immediately) and it was never controversial - I guess because no other fighter has given the classic basketball “timeout” sign. What difference does it make whether the fighter makes a “T” with his hands or simply points to his mouth? The fight has to be stopped once they get back to a neutral position.
[quote comment=”322987″][quote comment=”322667″]I think varner statement is a crock of S#@T. When the guy called for the time out he was hurt.[/quote]
It doesn’t matter whether he was hurt or not, the Athletic Commissions require guys to fight with mouthguards in. As soon as there’s a break in the action, the ref has to get it back in the guy’s mouth. The ref also has to give a fighter a timeout when they get kicked in the crotch or punched in the back of the head - whether the fighter was rocked or not isn’t a factor.
I’ve seen mouthguard timeouts before (McFedries vs. Sakara comes to mind immediately) and it was never controversial - I guess because no other fighter has given the classic basketball “timeout” sign. What difference does it make whether the fighter makes a “T” with his hands or simply points to his mouth? The fight has to be stopped once they get back to a neutral position.[/quote]
Exactly.
How long can he hold it? Who will he fight next? When? Where? After watching him in the UFC, I began to wonder where he went. Glad to see him doing well…and making me money!
the only aspect of this fight that was out of the ordinary was varner calling a timeout. had he not called a timeout and pornstache had done exactly what he did, no one would say a word. since he did signal, it’s controversial.
The best bet is to rematch the guys and see what happens. I’d watch. Rob was getting his ass beat, but he’s got dynamite hands, so who knows. it’s too bad there was that minor controversy, as the worm is a legit mixed martial artist and fun to watch as well.
mazagati is horrible. there are no timeouts in fights.
Varner’s illegal time-out is not “much ado about nothing”. Time-outs are warranted for groin shots, eye-pokes–that sort of thing. The refs shouldn’t let people have time-outs because they lose their mouthpieces; or because they get blood in their eyes (Gonzaga); or because they get tired. It’s ridiculous.
There’s no doubt that Varner was winning the fight throughout; but the ref’s bad judgment tainted the fight nonetheless. Rob definitely deserves a rematch.
[quote comment=”324087″]mazagati is horrible. there are no timeouts in fights.[/quote]
What’s done is done dude. Mazagati isn’t too bad. If you feel like bashing a ref, it should be Herb Dean.
[quote comment=”322589″]Just further proof that Mazagatti needs to go back to ref school and read up on the rules he is -supposed- to be be enforcing.[/quote]
OK U NO ALL THE RULES HOW ABOUT U TELL ME THEM. i don’t like the ref either but he did the right thing here. u people can complain all u want but its in the past. make a time machine and go back and change it if u r that pissed off by it. while your at it be sure 2 stop all the other things that have made u mad. but it would b alot easier just 2 let it go. u sound like u might b ROB himself.
[quote comment=”324087″]mazagati is horrible. there are no timeouts in fights.[/quote]
for a mouth piece there is 2! how long have u been watching MMA. sounds like not very long. they have 2 do that 4 the safety of the fighters. man go back and watch that rule has been around for awhile now. some of u! i’ll stop there b4 i write something they won’t let me post.
[quote comment=”323288″][quote comment=”322987″][quote comment=”322667″]I think varner statement is a crock of S#@T. When the guy called for the time out he was hurt.[/quote]
It doesn’t matter whether he was hurt or not, the Athletic Commissions require guys to fight with mouthguards in. As soon as there’s a break in the action, the ref has to get it back in the guy’s mouth. The ref also has to give a fighter a timeout when they get kicked in the crotch or punched in the back of the head - whether the fighter was rocked or not isn’t a factor.
I’ve seen mouthguard timeouts before (McFedries vs. Sakara comes to mind immediately) and it was never controversial - I guess because no other fighter has given the classic basketball “timeout” sign. What difference does it make whether the fighter makes a “T” with his hands or simply points to his mouth? The fight has to be stopped once they get back to a neutral position.[/quote]
Exactly.[/quote]
WOW u r one of the smart people on here. and i don’t mean that in a bad way. its nice 2 now someone else knows the rules other then me on here.
I can’t understand why some people are so hung up on this mouthpiece thing? It wasn’t the 1st time and all.
[quote comment=”324234″][quote comment=”322589″]Just further proof that Mazagatti needs to go back to ref school and read up on the rules he is -supposed- to be be enforcing.[/quote]
OK U NO ALL THE RULES HOW ABOUT U TELL ME THEM. i don’t like the ref either but he did the right thing here. u people can complain all u want but its in the past. make a time machine and go back and change it if u r that pissed off by it. while your at it be sure 2 stop all the other things that have made u mad. but it would b alot easier just 2 let it go. u sound like u might b ROB himself.[/quote]
instead of trying to get in fights on the internet, stay in school and for god’s sake pick up an english book and learn how to spell and use proper grammer. its like i’m talking to a 6 year old on AOL.
So… isn’t the ref the one who’s supposed to stop the action? If fighters aren’t allowed to call timeouts something like that should be considered a forfeit. The ref has to initiate the stoppage for it to be at all legitimate.
Jamie lost his mouth piece and took a hard punch like a champ. When he got caught i thought that was it. But Razor wasn’t being aggressive after they got up and he wasn’t pressuring Jamie. If Varner wouldn’t have made the Time Out motion and just pointed to his mouth piece and Mazagati stopped it would you people still think it was a problem. Razor got worked for 2 and a half rounds and then he got TKO’d. WEC better get some better 155 pound talent or Varners gonna have that Belt for awhile.