“I’m worried about Pete Sell. I sent him to the hospital to get an MRI…. As you’ve heard me so many times — especially in the last few weeks — and wait until The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) comes out to talk to me about judging and officiating in this sport right now. It drives me crazy because it’s such a personal thing. These guys train so hard and those two kids [Aaron Riley and Shane Nelson] have been in camp for six to eight weeks, training, and then they fly out here to fight and it gets stopped like that. People make mistakes all the time, but that was a bad one. I was unhappy with the Pete Sell fight tonight, too. Yves LaVigne is actually usually a very good referee. I’m serious — I’m not even kidding — I hurt my arm tonight banging on the Octagon for him to stop that fight. I’ve never done that in eight years. I don’t even know what to say. It drives me crazy.”
– A fired up Dana White talks about referees and judges in the wake of UFC 96: “Jackson vs. Jardine.” The company president was very upset that Yves LaVigne did not stop Matt Brown from assaulting Pete Sell sooner and Rick Fike from not letting Aaron Riley defend himself longer against Shane Nelson. He also foreshadows that we can expect more of the same on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), which is set to debut on April 1. Joy.
48 Comments »
If the ref stopped the fight then people would be complaining of a early stoppage.
My problem was that he jumped in and stopped it then let it continue. If Matt Brown would have been able to follow up in the first place the fight would of had a justified stoppage in a matter of moments. Jumping the gun and not pulling the trigger left more of an opportunity for Drago to get hurt even more.
Totally agree, Psycho. I would have been fine with him not stepping in initially, but once he did the fight had to be stopped. You can’t start to stop the fight and then change your mind, it’s not fair to the fighters. I was very impressed by Matt Brown, both for his devastating win, and for not wanting to keep beating on a guy who was clearly not able to intelligently defend himself.
Tell Dana to stfu! Yes the ref did a terrible job…but Dana is bashing 90% of the ref’s in the sport, yet he continues to let his personal beef with Big John, who we all know is the best ref to have ever done it, to keep Big John away from the octagon!
Once again one of Dana’s petty beefs is hindering the sport. Dana is cheating the sport, the fighters who train very hard, and the fans! His persoanl petty beef diminishes the UFC.
Bring Back big John, or stop Ref Bashing!
People act like Big john retired….thats not the case. Dana just wont let him work a UFC event!
Regardless what John said about the UFC when he was working over at fight network….Big John helped the UFC more than he ever hurt it!
I thought the athletic commisions set the Refs?
Also BIG John did retire went to work on the fight network and realized he SUCKED at it and said eeehhh im gonna ref again. And to my knowledge he has only ref’ed one event since then? Correct me if im wrong
What exactly did Big John say about the UFC that got Dana on his bad side? I wasn’t aware there was a beef between them.
Man, Yves screws up one time and everyone is acting like he’s a jorge ortiz or a cecil. As far as big john, dana is too immature to let him do his thing. Also i think there was something going on with his licenses because he retired. He needs to get relicensed in other places but for now he can only do Vegas and one other place, if i am correct.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the best, you are never gonna get a fair shot from Dana if he dislikes you.. he can’t hold back his emotions and handle business, kinda like Rashad, watch Rashad come out all tentative against Rampage like he was vs Tito after he got all personal in the pre-fight hype.
Big JOHN is not RETIRED! He was retired but he came back to work the Fedor/Arlovski fight. Big John was even quoted as saying he would love to start ref’ing in the UFC again, but it wasnt up to him!
John, I though you were smarter than that, and can’t believe mania hasn’t corrected you! The athletic commission chooses the referees. Yes, Big John is not retired, but that can only mean he’s turning down events or not being offered them, but Dana has nothing to do with that! That’s why in FL you see different refs than other places, they must have their own guys they use. Once again, it’s been stated a million times, Dana doesn’t choose the referees!
one more thing, if he had control, Herb Dean would’ve been there. he obviously has guys he likes, why wouldn’t they be at every event?
Big John also ref’d a smaller show right after he came out of retirement – can’t remember the show, but it was televised on HDnet
Big John is the best but he would only ref a small amount of the total fights on any card and most def not Sell vs Brown….which was the worst job ever…Dana was right….Also Dana is running a buisness, how many bosses would let employees talk bad about the company and still let then work there? Same concept with big John.
KEVIN: u are wrong! Dana does not chose referees, the athletic commission choses them…but Dana gets to approve/ or disapprove all the ref’s being offered to him by the commission.
I am 100% positive that Big John has not worked a UFC event since coming out of retirement…all because of Dana… I am not joking Kev, this isn’t debatable…I am actually positive about this!
Kev: U seem to travel a lot…u ever come to philly? I would love to mess with you in person…let me know if you are ever in my neck of the woods!
2 gay comments in 1 day john!!??
Yeah, he wants to mess with you in person. I would go ahead and take him up on that. lol
Ya, seems funny how he’s pissed about an early stoppage, than pissed about one that wasn’t stopped.
You coming or going, Dana?
2 different fights so I don’t understand your point. One was clearly stopped early and one was clearly let go to long so I really dont see the issue here.
matthew, I agree. Especially with a tough guy like Sell. I think the ref did the right thing in letting it go on, however, when Brown was just pushing him it should have stopped.
That fight should not have been allowed to continue after Yves stopped it the first time, WTF was up with that. I was yelling at the TV “stop the fight” “stop the fight”. Sell is a plug that would have lost anyways but took alot of uncalled for shots in the fight. I will have to admitt that I did like seeing Matt punch and kick that smile off his face twice.
What a pansy Dana must be. I saw him hit the mat like twice, and not very hard. If he hurt his hand that bad he must be getting a little soft.
He better be crazy. Because Yves is a legit ref but that semi-stoppage last night was kinda stupid! Only legit ref left right now IMO would be Herb Dean[though he's also had some questionable calls in the past].
See Shamrock v. Ortiz
Yeah, like robbing Marquardt of his win vs. Leites.
Ref enough and you’ll make mistakes. What’s most important with these guys in consistency.
Kinda like a strike zone for baseball so we know if your not defending enough this ref is going to come in for sure, and this one will let it go that extra punch.
Agree. There are no perfect refs out there, but Yves is good. He made a bad call. Get over it.
If you’re so sick of bad refs, quite being a vengeful diva, shallow your selfish pride and do what’s best for the sport, fans and the fighters and hire the best in the business back: Big John
When Sell fell down like that the fight should have been stopped. Monday Morning QB or not, that was a horrible job by Yves.
That Sell fight really disturbed me. If the Ref would have actually stoped when he first tried it would have been too early but once you have yours hands of the fighter to get him off you have made the call you can’t put the jeanie back in the bottle. But after wards when Sell was out on his feat he should have called it
I agree with the UFC needing Big John back, but Im pretty sure that the Athletic Commissions picks the refs. I even remember seeing an interview with Big John before his return to the cage, and I thought he said he would have to be patiant and wait to get back to the big show. I have been wrong before so dont quote me on it.
I think your right lokie, the UFC has very little control?
wrong! both the UFC and the athletic commissions have to approve. the athletic Commission has already approved Big J’s reinstatement…its Dana that is keeping him out of the UFC
so Dana is approving Dan Miragliotta….I find that hard to believe
The only thing tHat I can say with certainty is that Dana/UFC are the ones keeping Big John from working a UFC event!
I owuld like to see this situation resolved, because it will be a shame if Big John isn’t working UFC 100!
When u look at the replay of that fight and all the shots Sell was taking was insane. Sell has a hard head and wouldn’t go completely out, but he was clearly taking unecessary dangerous, punishment. Lavigne must feel like sh*t.
I thought it was a good decision to let the fight continue. dana wants to talk about how hard these guys train and then they stop the fight early like the nelson fight, but if yves would have stopped the drago fight, then like everyone has said it would have been an early stoppage. drago was able to come and laugh it off in the post fight interview, so whats the big deal. dana is just worried about catching some heat from the tree huggers out there that will see that fight and complain. drago is a man, a fighter, so let them fight it out. go yves, you the man.
If Yves WOULD of stoppped the fight when Brown first dropped Sell, everyone would of been screaming bad stoppage because it was too early. But, You cant stop the fight, THEN change your mind….WHAT if Sell was able to get the win?
It sucks that Dana WILL NOT let Big John ref in the UFC. If Dana really wants to talk about how poor reffing is, he needs to forget about all the bs between him and Big John.
I am not even exactly sure what happened between UFC and Big John. As far as I know it, all Big John is guilty of is telling the truth. What did he do other than say some things that upsets Dana???
What could Big John have said that even holds a candle to the stunt(s) Couture pulled last year? I mean, c’mon, Randy talked !#@$ and basically lied when talking about compensation. I guess the difference is that Randy is still capable of putting $$$$ in Dana’s and Lorenzo’s pockets while Big John is, I don’t know, JUST THE !@#$ing BEST REF EVER!! I have a very hard time believing the state athletic commissions are reluctant to reinstate the man who helped develop the rules of the sport.
WHat would have been real bad is if he would have been able to recover becouse the ref stoped it and then let it go again, ounce you stop it it should be over also he took a lot of punishment after I mean come on even i was screaming at the tv for him to stop the fight that was not cool even brown looked like he felt bad and didnt want to continue to hurt sell, I really respect that, it shows people that fighters arent heartless but it is a sport.
Dana White is such a f*****g idiot! I dont know of any top man in any other company to be so petty and immature, and have such a lack of dignity, manners and class in the way they conduct their affairs. The way this clown publically shoots his mouth off and talks trash about people is disgusting and totally unprofessional. He talks about how he was banging on the cage for the ref to stop the fight! That’s outrageous! In the position he holds in the company he shouldn’t be there trying to influence the outcome of a fight!!! This idiot being the public face of UFC affairs, is a sick joke!
this post is a joke, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Jared Shaw. He was looking out for Pete Sell’s safety! He wasn’t trying to dictate the outcome of a fight, the fight was over in the first minute but somehow continued for another two! WOW, it’s a bad thing that he doesn’t bite his tongue and kiss everyones ass? I for one would rather a head of a company tell it how it is rather than sugar coat it…if some “higher ups” would follow this mantra, maybe this recession would end quicker!
Nice of you to post Mrs White but it’s Dana Who’s the joke, so’s your post!!! Everyone copy Dana White, and the world economic crisis will end, you idiot!!! Dana white’s a complete clown who washes his dirty linen in public for the world to see, then throws a hissy fit when things dont go his own way. No wonder Fedor wants nothing to do with him and the UFC. As for the fight last night, I couldn’t care less if sell was getting hacked to death, it’s not Dana White’s call to stop a fight, that’s what you employ a ref for!! He should take a seat in the stands until he learns to control hi emotions!!!
Seriously does Dana think he’s a fighter poseing like that?
I missed the part where Dana White “Injures” himself. This is a good blog, just keep the bullshit typical media turning stories around crap out of it please. thanks.
I guess he’ll have to use his other arm to stroke and pleasure Rampage with.
Gimme a break Rampage getting a title shot before Machida. What a joke.
What a gay pic.
haha, Goldberg said, “good job by Yve” after he let it keep going