UFC 142: Silva vs. Prater fight will be reviewed by the UFC
Posted on January 19, 2012, 05:36 PM by Trent ReinsmithUFC 142 did not go off without some controversy. At first glance it appeared that Erick Silva was going to get his hand raised after his fight against Carlo Prater was stopped the 29 second mark of Round One. Early signs indicated that the fight would go Silva’s way as he had been raining hammerfists down upon the head of Prater when referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in to end the fight. However, the television camera microphones were picking up whispers from Bruce Buffer that made viewers think otherwise.
When the result of the fight was officially announced it had been deemed a disqualification victory for Prater with Yamasaki deeming that Silva’s punches had landed to the back of the head of Prater, making them illegal.
Well, it looks like things are far from over regarding that very brief bout. Today MMAJunkie.com reported that UFC Vice President Marc Ratner informed Silva’s manager Wallid Ismail that the promotion would review the fight.
The fight has brought up the question of instant replay being used in cases like this.
What do you think LoweKick’ers, does the UFC need instant replay and when should it be used?
Further Reading: UFC 142 Recap: Jose Aldo and Vitor Belfort dominate in Brazil
Comments
Silva looks destined for greatness
I'm glad they're reviewing the fight. I hope in the future they use instant replay whenever there's a questionable stoppage. I'm sure that Bonnar would have liked this back in his first fight with Sozcynski, so he wouldn't have that undeserved TKO on his record.
Another future champ who goes by the name of Silva, nice.
Of course thats kinda like thinking there are only 2 Gonzales Families in Mexico.
hehe Maria Yamasaki!
ahh the typo was corected!:P
Pretty early to call him future champ. While I'm not ruling out the possibility, he hasn't really faced any real talent. I would like to see him in at least a 2 round battle to show what he really has to offer top competition. He could provide a sense of urgency to any opponent, making for some exciting matchups.
Silva in Brasil is like Smith in the US...many of our champions have it, our former president has it, I have it and the list of amazing people that have it goes on and on... ; )
You're really Anderson Silva, aren't you?
Maybe
Lose the Justin Beeber thing
Im surprised they (UFC) are not backing up Mario. Marios had some questionable calls imo. but this time you clearly see Silva strike the back of praters head.
Sure Silva was winning and would have won with out those strikes. And it seemed more like a warning infraction then a DQ. But I found it very unprofessional for Joe to go out there and grill Mario on the spot like that.
These rules have to be enforced at some point or what is the point of having them.
You must have saw a different fight then... I was in attendance in Rio and the replay clearly showed they were all legal blows except one which happened because Prater wasn't intelligently defending himself and not covering properly, making it clearly unintentional by Erick part!
Furthermore, upon the "confrontation" of the situation (Joe talking with Mario), the referee clearly confessed it was a mistake, saying that at the time he called a DQ it seemed like the blows were illegal, stating that the referees have to decided here and there.
Personally, I dont blame Mario, he was only calling as he saw it and I dont think he had any bad intentions whatsoever. Mistakes can happen, specially to referees, what we do after we found out we erred is what's important and to me and everyone in attendance, Mario got a pass because he acknowledge his error when he saw it again on slow motion on the big screen.
To conclude, I think instant replay is a great way to ensure this sort of things dont happen again. The use of new technologies in sports id part of the progress and evolution of said sport since it only makes the judging more fair and accurate. On Soccer, there's a lot of debate on using new technologies and mostly there's some kind of lobbies that are against it for god knows why...? On the other hand, Tennis has the use of instant replay and it works wonders, ending a lot of unneeded discussions between players and referees and making the game more fair all around!
So you do acknowledge that Erick did land an illegal blow towards the end of the fight yet you decided yourself that it was after the fight was over despite the fact that Mario hadn't stopped the fight yet?
The problem here is that its is impossible to say with 100% certainty that that blow wasn't the one that made it impossible for prater to recover. At least that is how I see it and an illegal blow is an illegal blow and its better that Erick leans to not get over exited sooner rather then later.
Personally I think the decision should stand and if something like this will effect Erick in negative way then he never had the heart of a champion anyway.
As a fighter however, it's your own responsibility to protect yourself at all times, and when you are not protecting yourself intelligently, the fight is stopped. If there was a punch that landed there, but it was the other fighter's fault it landed there, why should the winner be DQ'ed for his opponent's inability to do his job?
I've seen MANY times (very commonly) where a fighter accidentally hit once or twice to the back of the head and it's ok. The point of this rule isn't to go "haha you hit the part you're not meant to hit i win!", it's to stop fighters from trying to do certain strikes that the athletic commission wants them to avoid. Sometimes when the opponent is moving their head it's easy to accidentally hit them in the back of head.
I've even seen a fight where a guy took a knee to the head while he was touching the ground with his 2 feet and 1 knee, but it was only for a split second and there was no way the aggressing fighter could have noticed in time and they allowed it without a second thought.
All the time fighters grab shorts, grab the cage, hit to the nuts, hit to the back of the head etc and they'll just get a warning and if they do it multiple times they might lose a point.
The things the referee needs to look for are, is it intentional or accidental. If it's accidental, have they done it a few times (more than once or twice). Then you deduct a point at your discretion. It's absolutely not to see 1 accidental hit to the back of the head out of a flurry of punches and declare him disqualified.
Like Mario said, he had to make a call and he thought he saw multiple hits to the back of the head but on the replay it only showed one. Joe Rogan was spot on and it was a great thing that he brought it up with Mario to show the fans that MMA / UFC is fair and are alongside the voice of the people. Dana White completely agreed with Rogan and said very similar things on his twitter afterwards, and now they're reversing the decision, as it should be!
If they had an instant replay for Mario to watch before he made his decision, he would have obviously decided it a victory for Silva
Personally I think the biggest story of this whole thing was how Rogan acted after, don't get me wrong I love Rogan but that was SERIOUSLY professional and to put Mario on the spot like that after just doing something most reefs wouldn't have the balls to do is just plain wrong.
There was an illegal blow that landed to the back of Praters head before the fight was stopped, period.
Which does not matter unless the ref feels that the illegal blow is the reason why the fight was stopped. In the heat of the moment, Mario thought that there were multiple hammerfists to the back of the noggin, and the replay showed there was only one unitentional glancing blow due to his opponent's inability to defend himself. TKO.
are you kidding? good for rogan, iv always thought that when a ref or judge makes a contreversal decision like that, they should have to explain there reasoning to the audience, otherwise they could have no legit reason at all, since apperently refs and judges cant get fired based on performance. mario basically admitted that he made a rushed, half assed decision that potentially denies that fighter a whole bunch of money and will effect his carreer for ever. i dont know how him saying he made a rushed decison is any justification at all. he should have taken as much time as he need to look at the instant replay. this guy is supposed to be a proffesional....
The instant replay option wasnt available to him. He had to make a decision based on what he saw during the fight. He wasnt at an ideal angle and therefore the blows looked illegal to him. He knows he made a mistake and does not deny it. Props to Mario for manning up.