Issue 092

September 2012

How MMA officials can avoid press pitfalls

Mario Yamasaki. An MMA referee for 12 years, Mario has black belts in judo and BJJ and refereed the jiu-jitsu Pan-Am Games.

The media is like a double-edged sword for any official. I know this topic can be a difficult one to discuss because of the various opinions and policies surrounding the regulation of MMA. Traditionally, officials were advised by athletic commissions to never to interact with the media and to avoid the media at all costs.

With today’s modern world this is becoming more of a challenge. The role of the media is to find stories or to get clarification on issues. In MMA, reporters will often ask MMA officials for their opinion on any number of topics. As I have discussed in numerous articles, one of the attributes of being an official, whether you are a referee or a judge, is to be fair and unbiased. When you start offering opinions you can wander into dangerous territory if you’re not careful. The comments in this column are strictly about my own experiences and each official will ultimately be responsible for his or her own actions. 

When I was asked to contribute to a monthly column for Fighters Only, I had some reservations. In my capacity as a licensed official with numerous athletic commissions I can only express a very limited amount of information – and some topics are definitely off limits. I represent the commissions I am working for and anything I say can have ramifications on them. However, I also feel there are areas that, if handled professionally, I can comment on.

I am often asked to go over the rules of MMA, or certain policies and procedures with respect to being an MMA official, and that’s fine. It educates the fans in the sport and treats both the sport and the commission with respect.

Sometimes we are asked by the media to comment on other officials in terms of their performance. This can be a problem, especially if a fight is recent. However, as a trainer for other MMA officials I also have to break down past cases of MMA officiating (both good and bad), so that new officials will have clear examples on what or what not to do. I try to use examples from my own experience when possible, but I do also show other officials. I have to be careful when critiquing other officials’ performances, especially if a performance is recent and is still under review by a commission. You should not offer any opinions that would jeopardize an ongoing investigation into the performance of an official.

As an official, commenting about a fight that you are about to officiate is going to be a problem with many commissions. Keep in mind, you are supposed to be unbiased and any opinions or comments can suggest that you are no longer impartial. Some commissions, because of this, will not give officials their assignments until the day of the fight.

On the other hand, certain commissions prefer that a referee knows who they are going to officiate well ahead of the event so they can make any necessary preparations mentally with respect to those fighters. If a commission provides you with this information, they trust that you will not make any comments about the fight and put your integrity and impartiality into question.

You can also run into problems commenting about your performance immediately after a bout. I’ll use my own example here. When I refereed Erick Silva and Carlo Prater in Brazil for UFC 142, I disqualified Erick Silva for striking the back of Carlo Prater’s head. Immediately after the bout, UFC commentator Joe Rogan started to question me in the cage about the stoppage and subsequent disqualification. I should mention that Joe Rogan was doing his duty, as he is there to ask the questions, and I have no issues with Joe. My mistake was not leaving the cage when he started asking questions, and offering a ‘no comment’ response.

In most cases, a commission will be the spokesperson for an official. In fact, generally it is a rule. The problem in the Silva and Prater case is that a commission did not exist in Brazil at that time. As a result, I felt I needed to explain my actions because I had no voice. It was the wrong decision. In all fairness, I explained my situation to Marc Ratner (UFC vice president of regulatory affairs), who stood by my decision, and supported my call. 

Commenting on your performance immediately afterwards to the media and bypassing the commission can also have legal repercussions if an official willfully admitted they made a mistake to the media. In debriefings after the events, officials get into the habit of explaining their actions. Referees need to be able to discuss why they stopped a fight and judges need to be able to discuss why they scored a fight the way they did. 

This, however, is done behind closed doors and with the goal of being evaluated to ensure that you are making the correct decisions. Even though, as officials, we all feel the need to explain our actions to the public we have to keep in mind that we work for the commission. In the end, that is the organization we need to be accountable to.

There’s also Facebook. Not the media in the traditional sense, but it is social media. Anyone who has a computer and the internet is likely going to be on Facebook – the premiere social contact in the world today. In our industry (MMA), everyone tends to know everyone. At one time, officials were advised not to have fighters, managers and so on as part of their group of friends on Facebook. That’s becoming harder and harder to enforce. 

In fact, now even commissioners and many involved in working with an athletic commission have promoters, fighters and corner personnel, as some of their friends. Regardless there are some guidelines any official should follow. You shouldn’t post any comments that make you appear to be biased to certain fighters or promotions – that can even mean posting certain pictures. Twitter is another concern. It is easy to make off-the-cuff comments, and officials need to recognize that they are going to be evaluated on the comments they make.

With all this in mind, there are some general guidelines for handling the media. First, ask the commission you are working with about its policies with respect to the media, including social media. Second, use good judgment. As an official, you need to be impartial. There are times when you are going to be faced with having to provide an opinion or a comment; be aware of what you can or cannot say and govern yourself accordingly.