Bas Rutten is a legendary figure in mixed martial arts, a former UFC champion, and currently the trainer for Kimbo Slice.Because of his affiliation with Kimbo, everyone wants to know what Rutten thinks about Kimbo's victory over James Thompson on Saturday night. Rutten answers with a post on his official web site, and although he mostly defends Kimbo, he says something shocking at the end: He actually thinks referee Dan Miragliotta should have stopped the fight and awarded it to Thompson late in the second round. Rutten writes:
People ask me if the fight should have been stopped at the end in the second round, I say YES because those are the rules, it should have been stopped because Kimbo didn't do anything to improve his situation. But I think what made the ref NOT do it was the fact that Kimbo was giving his thumbs up the whole time to let the referee know that he was OK.So Rutten believes Thompson should have been awarded the victory late in the second round. I disagree.
This was the refs decission, not Kimbo's.
The rule in question states:
Referee Stoppage: the referee may stop a match in progress if: a fighter becomes dominant to the point where the opponent is unable to intelligently defend himself from attacks, which may occur as quickly as a few seconds
There's some room for interpretation in that rule. It doesn't say the referee "must" stop, it says the referee "may" stop. In general, the rules give the referee fairly wide latitude, and Dan Miragliotta, the referee in this particular match, felt that he could let it go. I respect Rutten for giving his true opinion even when it reflects badly on his own fighter, but I don't agree with that opinion.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-03-2008 @ 5:55PM
Mike S said...
I think bas is somewhat right alot of fighters in that position get stopped but it is because of hard shots landing. For one kimbo freed his right arm a few times to attemp an escape and thompson was only hitting the side and possibly the back of kimbo's head. And even the ref said none of those shots were hurting him or doin any damage. Kimbo was a little slow gettin up but thompson was partially just using the wrestling tactic to lay on him and gas him. Kimbo was keepin his head tucked to minimize damage and did a good job plus thompson isn't a small guy. the ref did a great job. Bas Rutten also did a great job training him. Even when Kimbo was in trouble on the ground he kept his composure better than most rookies in mma and tried muscling his way out
Reply
6-03-2008 @ 5:59PM
George said...
It really could have gone either way. On one hand, Thompson was in complete control during the second round. On the other hand, none of his blows were devastating enough to really call for a stoppage. After the dozens of blows to the head, Kimbo popped back up, basically unscathed. I think the ref made the right decision.
Now, whether or not the stoppage at the end was legitimate is another story. Personally, I think that Thompson was going down, but the ref should have waited another 10 seconds. There are a few reasons why I think the match was called so quickly: #1 Thompson's safety was rightfully called into question, #2 Too much gore = not good for CBS, #3 If you look at the big picture, the ref's own job security depends on Kimbo winning, as Kimbo's success makes the brand more popular.
Reply
6-03-2008 @ 7:47PM
JoeT said...
I never saw Kimbo give the thumbs up to the ref, I did see what looked like a tapout by kimbo. someone needs to post some footage on youtube.
http://www.fromthecage.com
Reply
6-03-2008 @ 9:49PM
kev said...
It should had been stopped, because that's what they do in every other match where one fighter is getting hits to the head without attempts to defend it. The strength of the strike does not matter--that has been settled some time ago. The rules have been interpreted, the consensus has been settled as to what should be done in that situation, and if Mirg wants to ignore that then he's a lousy ref.
Look at Florian vs. Lauzon: Lauzon popped right back up after 1:30 mins of weak ground and pound, but even he knew it wasn't an early stop. Kimbo giving a thumbs up is not an active, intelligent defense. Mirg should have warned him to move or be stopped, and backed up the warning with force.
Reply