Issue 149
December 2016
Every official makes mistakes – the key is to make as few as possible.
It should come as no surprise to anyone just how under-fire a referee can come.
Media, fans and fighters alike can be poised, fingers at the ready on social media, to instantly offer the world and its dog a scathing take on what they see as a fault.
When I carry out referee duties and judge training seminars, I try and describe the real pressure a referee will face when it comes to performing on the biggest stage of all.
It can fall on some deaf ears and blank minds.
I guess it’s kind of like just about every experience in life – unless you’ve partaken in the very activity that you so valiantly try to capture and describe then you are at the mercy of your subject’s understanding – or lack thereof.
A referee’s job is to watch the fight closely to see if the rules are adhered to. In a nutshell, that is what we do, but it takes in more, so much more. The notion that we are perfect or unfaltering machines, of course, is simply unrealistic. The same is true for any official in any sport.
The perception that we cannot make an error or have a lapse in judgment for a fraction of a second is wholly unrealistic.
That’s further exasperated and heightened by the fact we are dealing with an unpredictable combat sport where the sole aim and objective is to render your opponent unable to continue by wide and varied means of concussive deliberate and continual striking or physical submission. The risks are very real.
When a referee makes their decision and processes the logic in their mind that a fight is over, it’s done in real time within a fraction of a second. We don’t have slow-motion replays or multiple camera angles to scrutinize the action more closely.
We don’t get a second chance to remake our decision. We can’t open it up for debate and discussion either.
We have to stand by the decision that has just been made.
If it’s a stoppage by TKO, we must be convinced in our experienced minds that the fighter is no longer in a position to intelligently defend themselves.
If a fighter has been knocked down, we want to give them every single opportunity to remain in that contest safely.
An experienced and well-versed official shall always take into account the events directly leading up to the point where they decide when to stop the fight.
However, the important thing to remember is that it’s simply a completely unrealistic for any official in any sport to have an entirely fault-free career. That just doesn’t happen.
A solid official will pride themselves on is the law of averages and statistics. Do the errors of judgment pale in comparison to the number of bouts officiated over a number of years? It should be.
I’ve long been a voice for the fact that improvement remains continual and whilst it’s within my firm belief that perfection certainly doesn’t exist – the strive to attain it does.
3 STRIKES
Goddard was criticized after the Mike Perry vs. Danny Roberts fight at UFC 204. Roberts appeared to be knocked unconscious, but ate three more punches to the face before the fight was finally stopped.
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