Ref Dan Miragliotta Defends Stoppage of Kimbo Slice-James Thompson Fight

Mixed martial arts referee Dan Miragliotta was harshly criticized by CBS announcer Gus Johnson on Saturday night for stopping the Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson fight.

Since then he's been more than harshly criticized -- some MMA bloggers have even suggested that the fight was fixed.

In an interview with Cokin and Cofield on ESPN Radio in Las Vegas, Miragliotta defended his decision. Saying the criticism of the stoppage comes from "13-year-old kids on the web that never fought a day in their life," Miragliotta said his reason for stopping the fight was simple:

"Why I stopped the fight was the uppercut-cross-hook-uppercut combination that knocked him on his ass -- well, not on his ass, but it knocked him into the fence. I looked into his eyes. I saw the blank stare, I knew he was out of it, I stopped the fight, and when I grabbed him to tell him the fight was over he still thought he was fighting Kimbo. He tried to take a swing at me and didn't realize where he was at."

Miragliotta called Thompson's badly damaged ear "one of the most disgusting things I've seen in a fight, ever," but said the ear was not the reason he stopped the fight -- Miragliotta stopped the fight only because Thompson looked dazed from being punched in the head. He also said that, contrary to what Brett Rogers thinks, Slice never tapped out during the fight. And he said Thompson was never close to finishing Slice.

Although I personally think Miragliotta stopped the fight prematurely, I never thought the fight was fixed, and I respect Miragliotta as a referee. Stopping a fight is a judgment call, and Miragliotta made his judgment.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-02-2008 @ 9:45PM

Shelbz said...

That's funny I recall Thompson verbally arguing over the stoppage before taking a swing...why would he have been arguing with Kimbo over the fight being stopped?

6-03-2008 @ 12:21AM

George B Vieto said...

The referee did the right deal. Larry Hazzard used to say "A man can fight another day."

6-03-2008 @ 12:30AM

Drolz said...

The Slice-Thompson fight wasn't a fix.

Michael Bisping's win over Matt Hamill last September, on the other hand...

6-03-2008 @ 9:50AM

fitch said...

Miragliotta's right. Thompson was out on his feet. He wasn't even looking in Slice's direction after the 3 shots. Boo hoo to all the sadists who think they needed to see Thompson flat on his back or worse a stretcher.

6-03-2008 @ 2:46AM

penis enlargement pills said...

That is why the refs make the big bucks.

6-03-2008 @ 12:22PM

search engine placement said...

He should have stopped it.

6-03-2008 @ 7:19AM

Feruw said...

If only Elite XC could have those high profile fights like Kalib Starnes v. Nate Quarry from UFC 83. Clearly that's where all the good fighters go.

6-03-2008 @ 4:36PM

JoeT said...

Who does the ref work for?...EliteXC?...and does he want to work again?...lol

http://www.fromthecage.com

6-03-2008 @ 2:14PM

JD said...

I saw Duk Poo Kim badly beaten my Boom Boom Mancini on the wide world of sports(ABC) when I was a kid! I thought he would be ok. I saw other fighters get KO'ed. The next day he DIED! The Ref was in the ring and if he felt Thompson wasn't able to fight then he wasn't Bottomline!

6-03-2008 @ 5:33PM

amber said...

Ok i do think the fight was fixxed!!! He was kicking kimbo's ass!! Kimbo was not ready for him. He would! have knocked kimbo's ass out!

6-03-2008 @ 6:18PM

FightDoctor said...

This is really pathetic, a weak fight. Kimbo was destroyed with unanswered elbows in the 2nd. That's were the premature stoppage should have happened. Who cares if the guys a hero for beating up untrained nobodies in a backyard (until getting owned by sean gannon) he needs to take that loss and learn from it. Not be pampered with an unjust win. This was really pathetic, and those who wanna be different and unique by defending EliteXC and Kimbo need to consider what a poor production this overall event was, and how they are trying to spoon feed us ghetto urban MMA to households all around. No wonder it was free, it would have been an insult to pay for this unorganized circus of backyard fights.

6-04-2008 @ 12:02AM

Leslie said...

Joe T,

Refs don't work for promotions. They work for the commissions. If you'd listen to his interview you'd know this.

6-03-2008 @ 6:37PM

rslover said...

this is the last fight a lotof people will ever eatch its truly fixed

6-04-2008 @ 10:00AM

xxdmaxx said...

I know the ref personaly he was my Kempo instructor and I can bet all I have he would never throw a fight. being a ref is all about personal judgment and apparently no one here is a ref. And being that Kimbo isnt a real fighter cause hes not everyone says its fixed. just move on guy got lucky is all. Kimbo wot make it in MMA or UFC.

6-08-2008 @ 2:56AM

Christian said...

Fight should have been stopped in the 2nd. Now why did he stop the Vera fight so early? BS

6-09-2008 @ 8:40AM

Sprawl said...

Fixed. And if it isn't then Shaw most likely highly encouraged a win for Kimbo. Miragliotta's defense may have been a lot more credible if he hadn't gone with that ridiculous explanation. "...he still thought he was fighting Kimbo." Really? Really?? If that were true he would've struck him, not shoved him, and he wouldn't have very obviously argued the decision. Maybe Miragliotta wanted to see what he wanted to see. Or maybe he was protecting EliteXC's investment. Gary Shaw was a boxing promoter after all... I'm sure he's had his hand in "controversial" stoppages.

6-13-2008 @ 2:03AM

mikejaime said...

I BELIEVE THE FIGHT WAS INDEED FIXED!!!

1. ELITE XC IS A NEWER LEAGUE ON THE RISE & WOULD NOT & COULD NOT HAVE IT'S HEADLINER FIGHTER LOSE THIS EARLY IN IT'S STAGE OF GROWTH. KIMBO SLICE BRINGS IN GOOD MONEY & BOOST RATINGS.

2. TWICE THOMPSON HAD KIMBO ON HIS BACK & WAS IN FULL SIDE CONTROL ALL THE WAY TO KIMBOS HEAD. THE FIRST TIME THOMPSON DID NOT EVEN THROW A STRIKE BUT ROLLED OFF OF KIMBO. I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS SEEING. WHY WOULD HE ABANDONED SUCH A GOOD POSITION ON A FATIGUED FIGHTER.

3. THE SECOND TIME THOMPSON HAD FULL SIDE CONTROL HE DID THROW A FEW STRIKES HOWEVER THEY WERE MORE LIKE HEAD TAPS CAUSE IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE HE WAS EVEN TRYING TO HURT KIMBO BUT HUMOR SPECTATORS.

MY CONCLUSION IS THAT THOMPSON WAS PAID NICELY TO THROW THE FIGHT, WAS DEF A WORTHY APPONENT GIVE HIS EXPERIENCE BUT WAS ASKED TO LOSE THE FIGHT & KEEP IT CLOSE. IT PROBABLY WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS, "HEY THOMPSON, YOURE A GOOD FIGHTER BUT YOURE OLD & ON YOUR WAY OUT. DO YOU WANNA MAKE SOME GOOD MONEY & THROW A FIGHT AGAINST KIMBO?" THOMPSON WAS LIKE F*** YEAH I COULD USE THE MONEY!