'My dad won Olympic gold – and now people call me the best MMA prospect in the the world'
UFC referee Kerry Hatley has been criticised for his “disgusting” decision to stop a fight too late, resulting in fighter Bobby Green being brutally knocked out by Jalin Turner. UFC CEO Dana White and ex-champion Michael Bisping were among those who voiced their disapproval.
“That was disgusting, he was face down, he was getting teed off on by a world-class very powerful striker, it was disgusting,” said Bisping who was on commentary duties in Austin, Texas. “Kerry Hatley, he’s a great referee but what the hell was he waiting for? It’s as simple as that, people’s lives are at stake, their long-term future
“That was utterly disgusting and disgraceful, I bet if he were face down on the Octagon with some cracking on his face he’d want it to be stopped sooner” White later echoed Bisping’s thoughts when he admitted it was one of the worst stoppages in the sport’s history.
“It was one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said. “The difference is we’ve had some refs say some dumb s*** in the past, like, ‘I allowed her to be a warrior tonight,’ and goofy s*** like that.
“He knows he made a mistake tonight and does not feel not feel good about it, so it’s unfortunate. Definitely a bad stoppage. Very bad.”
Green, who suffered his first defeat in three fights, took to social media after the fight to say: “You win some, you lose some. I guess I shouldn’t show people if you gotta keep it ‘G’ when you win, you gotta keep it ‘G’ when you lose. Shout out to Jalin. You did your thing, brother. I’m so happy for you.
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To all my people, another step in the career. There’s ups, there’s downs.I’m going to keep it going. I ain’t going nowhere.” A number of UFC fighters took to social media to hit out at referee Hatley, including Sodiq Yusuff who called for him to be sacked.
“Fire that fing ref,” he wrote. “That’s insane man. I’ve never been actually mad at a ref before. Someone could die of s like that.”
*An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.
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