Dana White has hit out at what he saw as some less-than-stellar performances cageside at last weekend’s UFC 307.
The event, which was topped by an outstanding battle between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree, saw some questionable decisions from both the judges and referees throughout the event, including some unusual judging in the Tecia Pennington vs. Carla Esparza fight as well as similar anomalies in the bouts involving Julianna Pena and Raquel Pennington, and Jose Aldo and Mario Bautista.
Similarly, the fight involving Cesar Almeida and Ihor Potieria saw Almeida sustain four eyepokes and a low blow without the referee deducting a point from Potieria.
And speaking to the media post-fight, including The Mac Life, White let loose on the some of decisions made throughout the fight card.
“I thought the judging was atrocious tonight, I’ll just leave it at that,” White said.
“I always think the ref should be more active on that,” White added of the Bautists vs. Aldo fight, during which Bautista employed a stifling, grapple-heavy style to suffocate Aldo — but without actually landing a takedown.
“If you’re judging on a guy, whether it’s control, if it’s this or that, if you’re not trying to fight, how do you win the fight? And if you’re looking at attempted takedowns, what about stuffing the takedowns? Just, madness.”
“When you can tell that the guy definitely doesn’t want to stand and strike, and just wants to stall against the fence, yes the ref, that’s their job,” White said as part of a larger point about whether the referee should have separated the fighters.
“They’re supposed to see it. When they see it continually happening and the guy is not trying to win the fight, then you keep trying to break them up.”
You can watch White’s full comments in the video above.