Props: ProMMA Radio
The ref (Dan Miragliotta) had actually called me. This was a couple of days after, he told me he was getting a lot of direct pressure [from the state athletic commissioner]. He said even the Governor had called him and said he needed to make a statement on the fight. He did let me know that some of the things were misleading that he said…We had even sat there and discussed kind of off the record about what had happened and he goes “Yeah, you know you told me you would be fine in a minute [after the eyepoke]. I stepped out and all of the sudden the doctor calls the fight, I didn’t get it.” [Miragliotta] was acting like he didn’t know why. He hears me tell him I don’t want to fight, I can’t see? I don’t know how he’s hearing that [if he’s on the other side of the cage].
EliteXC middleweight Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith responds to comments made by referee Dan Miragliotta to “Mr. Sunshine” Steve Cofield on ESPN 1100 regarding the controversial stoppage of his fight against EliteXC middleweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler at last month’s Saturday Night Fights in Newark, NJ. Smith goes into great detail about the stoppage and the way it was handled. Check out the interview by Larry Pepe over at ProMMA Radio when you get the chance, it’s a juicy one!
Click here for the interview.
42 Comments »
Great interview. It solidifies my feelings about Elite XC.. That was a fiasco that embarrassed the sport.
Is it a big surprise that there is a question about Miragliotta’s integrity? The guy is a bum and can be biased. The guy is a joke, as well as the promotion he was working for that night. I hope his license gets revoked or suspended for a while. BOYCOTT Miragliotta!
“Damn Fagliotta” is the worst ref in the history of the sport. Seriously, you can’t find another. He needs to just leave the fight business all together. Actually, he’s probably perfect for boxing.
LOL. I agree. He is only a ref because he is big. When you hear him talk you can tell that he has a very low IQ.
Haha!!VEry true. The Neanderthal is only a ref because he’s big[like a caveman], but w/a caveman’s IQ…stupid indeed!!
this guy probably shouldn’t ref anymore…
Too many EliteXc threads for my taste. I will be back on here later when we get some REAL MMA THreads!
Big Nog Talks TUF
By Jason Perkins | June 16, 2008
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira recently took time out from the taping of Spike’s newest edition of their reality TV hit “The Ultimate Fighter”, to sit down with Gracie Mag to speak about a variety of topics including his budding rivalry with fellow coach Frank Mir.
“The mood of rivalry between us is getting strong,” Nogueria told GracieMag.com. “We see each other here all the time, and I’ve known his game for awhile. Ever since he submitted Roberto Traven at the UFC, in 2001, he’s been known. But you’ll see: I’m going to be all over him standing, I’m better than him both standing and on the ground. In the fight with Sylvia the way to the win was clearly on the ground, but against Mir I’m going to show more of what I’m capable of to the world and my fans. I’ll always respect him as an adversary, of course. Even more so since he’s trained with Demian Maia and Robert Drysdale.”
Noguiera also expounded on his time spent coaching and participating in TUF 8.
“Here all is well, it’s well worth it – and not just for the folks who get to watch what we do here in the USA. The training here is going strong, there are a lot of good kids here in my team who help me train, And my brother Rogerio [Minotoro] gets here in two weeks. And I’m testing myself a lot as a coach, and brushing up on my English. I can’t say anymore about it, because the penalty is high according to the contract. Really high!”
-Fightline
Wanderlei Silva turns down fight with Vera. He said it didn’t give him enough time to prepare for an opponent like VERA and he is absolutely right.
What the Hell is Dana thinking? Asking the smallest LHW, who is close to a title shot and everyone wants to see face rampage again, to accept a fight against a Heavyweight like Vera, with only a month to train?
Thank god Wanderlei is usuing his brain, the old Wandy probably wouldnt have turned it down…Good for you8 Wanderlei…get that title shot Boy!!!
DREAM 5 Card:
Featherweight Bout: Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Joseph Benavidez
Middleweight Bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. TBA
Middleweight Bout: Denis Kang vs. TBA
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic vs. J�r�me Le Banner
Welterweight Championship Bout: Nick Diaz vs. Hayato Sakurai
Lightweight Grand Prix Bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Lightweight Grand Prix Bout: Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Lightweight Championship bout: Shinya Aoki/Caol Uno vs. Eddie Alvarez/Tatsuya Kawajiri
Good looking for the MmA info.
I can’t wait for Dream/5…….
Aoki’s finish the other day was unbelievable!!..Him and Uno is going to be an amazing fight…
Diaz has his hands full with Sakurai thats for sure..Diaz better not fight like he did the other day or he is done..I am a very big Diaz fan and I hope he fights more like he did last Dream rather then the way he performed agianst Aina, Noons and Corberry….
I’m also looking forward to “Kid” Yamamoto to get down..Dudes straight nasty, and is always an entertaining fighter..
Also, I enjoyed the EXC on the weekend..It’s too bad they didn’t have that card for the CBS debut..
SideNOte-
I am very upset that my boy Mayhem lost..I did give Jaracre the slight edge in this fight anyway, so it was not like I was suprised..But I am a “Mayhem MoNkey for LiFe” and was hoping he could pull out a win…oh well’
The more I see Jarcre fight? The more I’m impressed!!..I am becoming a BIG fan.. this dude is on a terror right now, and I dont see him losing soon..
Anytime Phil! All this EliteXc crap is starting to get on my nerves!
PhilQNy: What does a grappler such as yourself think about Jacre’s performance against Mayhem? I thought it was amazing seeing Jacre attempt submission after submission after submission. Thoughts?
stager Lee: Great Analysis. Jacre is a beast and he is only getting better! IMO, he will win the middleweight tournament. The rest of the fighters are supperior strikers but Jacre’s athletisism will earn him the takedown against anyone of them, and submit them quickly. Props to mayhem for having to defend a million sub attempts and making it to a decision. tHe fighters left in the tournament will not be able to last on the ground against Jacre like Mayhem did. I am a fan of Zleg,Mousasi, and Manhoeff, I just think Jacre will take anyone of them down, submit them and celebrate by doing the Aligator Crawl all over the RING!!!
As for Kid Yammamoto, he has to be one of the most entertaining mma fighters in the world. Always looking forward to seeing him fight.
I see Diaz/Sakurai the same way as u do….Diaz is going to have to step it up. Mach will be the toughest opponent he has fought in a very long time. Right now, I think Saskurai is the favorite, hopefully Diablo can prove me wrong! I can guarentee one thing, Sakurai is goping to fight Diaz much tougher than Gomi did!
Lebanner vs. Cro Cop will be a good Bang! Hopefully the winner will fight Overeem or Sergei Kharitonov
When is DREAM 5???? I need to get to my bro’s house to watch that one live. WOW, what a card!
KID Yamamoto is always fun to watch. For those that don’t know, he is the only true theat to Urijah Faber at 145, not counting 155ers that could potentially drop down.
I am interested to see who they will get to fight Dennis Kang. I haven’t seen him win a fight for a while.
Crocop and Le Banner fought in a kickboxing fight like 10 years ago and Cro Cop won by decision. I dont expect a decision this time.
Welterweight Championship Bout: Nick Diaz vs. Hayato Sakurai. Can not wait to see this fight!! Nick will be a very busy man racking up the frequent flyer miles if he is able to beat Mach and KJ. He would be LW champ of EliteXC and WW champ on DREAM. Doing pretty well for himself since his UFC days. Not to mention the fight of the century when he defeated Gomi in PRIDE. I agree with everyone that the current Nick Diaz that we saw last weekend and against Noons, and against Aina will get smashed by Sakurai. The Diaz of old must emerge
I really hope to see Eddie Alvarez get by Tatsuya Kawajiri because I’m super excited to see him fight against Aoki or Uno. Two fights in the same night for the Grand PRix Championship - OH YEAH!
Also, does anyone know when they began filming the new season of TUF? It must have been very recently…
Caol Uno for Dream Champ
ViolentmIke: DReam 5 will take place on July 21
Also: Fedor vs. Big Poopy is now a title fight for the 1st ever Wamma title!
In the Wamma rankings, Fedor is ranked #1 heavyweight in the world, Sylvia is ranked #4
July 21? On a Monday? Haven’t all other DREAM’s been on a Sunday?
ViolentMike: When u said it was a monday, I too thought something was fishy, so I checked a few various sites and they are all saying July 21. Weird huh? They are usually on Sundays…I dont know whats up with that.
Its officially been announced as July 21…
I say the finals of the grand prix will be Alvarez vs. Aoki! What do you guys think?
Im not taking sides on this type of stuff anymore.
alot if not all the rumors and such stem from fans on the internet. Places like sherdogg and other internet forums that house people with nothing better to do then bicker and complain about everything. I say lets just watch and enjoy. let the fighters fight , the refs ref and the judges judge.
Someone fire up the delorian and take me back to the 80’s
I guess Starnes was an ok fighter then, and Dan Mirgliotta can continue reffing, and the judges scored the fight right between Bisbing and Hammil, seriously when these guys make mistakes they need to know that they are not holding down their job if they keep doing the terrible job they are doing.
Can this CAN!
That fight was just really getting good and then they stopped it. Total bull-crap! Smith said I can’t see and then said give me my full 5 min. and I will be fine. B.S. stoppage
not this agian ..Wher’s my comment??
This bastard ref let evans lie on top of bisping for 2 rounds doing nothing then he stands kimbo up when thompson was hitting him! im still bitter!
I don’t know why any major organization would hire him again. Too many shady outcomes.
the organizations don’t hire the refs the athletic commissions do.
They are appointed by the athletic comissions. It would be a shady business if organizations hired them. THINK!
I wonder if the organization could possibly ask them to appoint someone else?
give him the can no one wants to see him ref, as long as he is ref i will never bet or make a call on any fight i see him ref in, useless bag of douche =D
seriously there should be an outcry to the athletic commission regarding dan and the removal of him
THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE
AND WE LET ‘EM OFF THE HOOK!
Dan also said Thompson was so out of it, that thats why Thompson was trying to fight him. But I saw the replay, Thompson was fine and was just pissed he got robbed. Thats why he threw that punch. But this interview doesnt make sense. If Dan was being pressured to make a statement, then why make bullshit ones? This keeps getting worse & worse as time passes.
in the great words of mexicutioner, BOYCOT elite XC!
I was getting worried….hadn’t seen him on here yet.
Isn’t the big “anouncement” today?
i think the doctor called a stop to the fight though so blame him too, also scott shouldn’t flat out say “i can’t see” that i would stop a fight for even though he said give me 5 minutes maybe dude didnt hear it or something give him a little credit in that one because any fighter knows what not to say to a damn doctor it’s like telling a cop you’ve been drinking but can drive..
but i will agree the ref is a moron and i hate his guts and robbie lawler hes a cocky a$$h0l3 who needs beat, and a bunch of other retarded decisions this guy makes, he seems like someone the nba should sign
The cavemaN REF HAS LOW iq…bAD for the sport…Big John, please come back!!