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Comment by runjake | Hacker News Reader

Some points:

- The judges just score the match and sit outside the ring. They do not have the power to stop a fight. The referee is supposed to intervene.

- It's a common misconception that fight referees belong to the UFC. For fights, an athletic commission is responsible for refereeing. In most fights, this is the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

- The UFC has been quite vocal and registered many formal complaints with NSAC when a referee allowed too many punches before stopping a fight. There was that referee that I'll only mention by first name, so I don't get sued: Steve.

- It is my opinion that professional MMA fighters need some sort of independent organization that oversees their well-being and assures they get proper medical care. It should be funded from fight profits. Things like what's happened to Spencer Fisher should not be happening.

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With the speed those guys hit, I imagine it'd be pretty tough for a referee to stop them before they've gotten an extra couple strikes in. It's an inherently dangerous activity, and sort of hard to mitigate that fact. I guess they could disqualify a fighter who hit their opponent in the head more than n times in a given match, or even make the head out of bounds altogether. Something tells me that's not an action the UFC would take willingly, or that UFC fans would accept happily.

> head out of bounds altogether.

That's how you get kyokushin style tournament. The problem is people want the head to be part of it, even the fighter themself. It's just a tough sport considering human only live once

> an athletic commission is responsible for refereeing

This sounds a bit like a distancing attempt.

Surely those referees follow the rules of UFC. So ultimately UFC is responsible no matter which entity enforces the rules.

>Surely those referees follow the rules of UFC.

I may be wrong, but I think it's the other way around. The commission sets the rules and hires the referees to enforce them. Dana White has be openly critical of certain referees and made it clear he'd fire them if he could. The UFC must follow the rules of the commission. I believe that's why some past fights could only occur in certain jurisdictions, and with modified rules. The unified rules of MMA are set by commission voters, not the UFC [1].

[1] https://www.ufc.com/unified-rules-mixed-martial-arts?languag...

You have it reversed.

No, UFC follows the rules of the relevant athletic commission and they only use referees (and judges, and timekeepers, etc.) licensed in that jurisdiction. UFC famously moved a fight from NV to CA because NV wouldn't license Jon Jones to fight after a drug test: https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/25603991/ufc-232-moved-l...

"Unified rules of MMA" were developed at the state athletic commission level (NJ maybe?), but not everywhere implements them: https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/4/16/18358920/abc-survey-at....

The ending of one fight in TX had betting implications because of their odd rules. https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/6/21/23177038/texas-commiss...

"Unified Rules" is followed by MMA organizations in the USA. It's a set of rules most state athletic commissions have agreed on over the years. It is a horrendous rule set and judging system for MMA.

> It is my opinion that professional MMA fighters need some sort of independent organization that oversees their well-being and assures they get proper medical care. It should be funded from fight profits. Things like what's happened to Spencer Fisher should not be happening.

The UFC has historically been wildly aggressively opposed to any sort of fighter organization or rights. I was a UFC fan for years but eventually faded away largely due to how repulsive I found the company's behavior, so there might be some recent developments I'm unaware of. I completely agree with you, but can't see it ever happening while the UFC has a de facto monopoly on the sport.

steve mazzagatti

- https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-some-worst-calls-steve-...

- https://www.mmafighting.com/2013/8/22/4644264/on-official-is...

I always wondered why he was not refereeing anymore. Instead, he now sits as a ringside official. I guess he failed up.

Spencer Fisher's situation is incredibly heartbreaking. Great article (good MMA journalism is as rare as hen's teeth) here: https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/1/12/21554602/the-cost-of-b...

Coaches can also stop the fight at any time, but of course they tend to never do that

How could you get sued?

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