Buscapé's victory (left) was challenged due to the intervention of referee Eduardo Herdy (center). Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
A glaring error by referee Eduardo Herdy, who hastily interrupted the fight between Leandro Buscapé and Drew dober and declared victory by submission for the Brazilian while his rival was conscious and even freeing himself from the guillotine used, it was one of the most memorable moments of UFC Fight Night Rio, held last Saturday (21) in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. Amid a series of complaints and criticisms about the move, the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission even admitted the central judge's mistake, but guaranteed that the final result of the fight will be maintained.
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“It is not possible to change the result. There are three cases in which the result can change: the first is a summation error by the judges giving a different result. The second case is collusion, when there is bad faith between the judges, no matter what the result was, there is already a pre-defined one between the judges. This is another thing that happens out there due to betting exchanges. The third is a failure in the referee's interpretation that generates a result different from what it should have been. There is an error of law and fact. There was a real mistake there. An error of law is when there is this failure in the interpretation of the law. It was not a failure to interpret the rule,” said the agency’s director of operations, Cristiano Sampaio, in an interview with the “Combate” channel website.
“We have to review the fight, the referee's positioning, what body signs the athlete had, indicating that he was unconscious or well, some factors that we have to analyze. But it was not an error of law, it had nothing to do with interpretation of the rule. Today, according to standard athletic commission protocol around the world, there is no way to change this result. According to international athletic commission standards, there is no way to reverse this case. But we have to sit down, discuss and review. Rule is one thing, his performance is another. They are different things. One is an error of fact, the other of law. Law would be the rule. But the real mistake was the situation there”, added Cristiano.
The premature interruption of the fight on the UFC Fight Night Rio preliminary card drove president Dana White crazy. At the press conference after the event, the director spared no criticism of referee Eduardo Herdy. “What happened in that fight was absurd and unacceptable. We will pay the win bonus to Drew dober. He was in the fight, he didn't come close to being finished, he was on top and could do a lot of damage to his opponent. All of us who are here, and everyone who saw the fight around the world, knows that what happened there was absurd. It didn't hit and it didn't go out. What did the referee see? Ask him. I don’t know,” he lamented.
Cases such as Eduardo Herdy's intervention in the fight between Leandro Buscapé and Drew dober are not unheard of in the UFC. In 2010, in Canada, Matt wiman beat Mac Danzig by submission, also via guillotine, after a premature interruption by referee Yves Lavigne. The result was also not reversed by the local Athletic Commission and a rematch between the two athletes ended up taking place just over a year later, again with Wiman winning, this time without any controversy.
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