Referee complains about the noise to justify José Aldo's knockout after the bell

Controversial blows were applied by J. Aldo (left) to C. Mendes (right) at the end of R1. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

Despite being acclaimed by the public due to its quality and intensity, the main fight of UFC Rio 5 between José Aldo e Chad Mendes It also raised controversy: at the end of the first round, the Brazilian landed two blows on his rival after the bell sounded and left him semi-knocked out. Blamed for what happened, the central referee of the fight, British Marc Goddard, took to social media to defend himself and claimed that it was impossible to hear the signal that ended the assault due to the noise at the Maracanãzinho Gymnasium.

“A few times that night (of the fight), I couldn't even hear the sound of the ten-second alert for the end of the round. I couldn't hear the gong. I had to keep an eye on the clock and the fighters. Apparently that makes me the worst in the world. No matter what I did in the other 25 minutes, it's all about the two seconds I couldn't hear,” complained the judge, who received indirect support from official UFC commentator Brian Stann.

“Maybe the UFC needs one of those horns similar to the ones they use in basketball. I could hear the signal because it was in my headphones and there was no one punching me (laughs). Furthermore, I confirmed with several teams after the fights and they didn't even hear the ten-second warnings for the end of the round, nor the instructions from the corners or even the gongs, due to the noise from the crowd”, revealed Stann.

Despite the controversy generated, the result was not officially questioned, with the opening of investigations at the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission to look for irregularities or even punish referee Marc Goddard.

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