Israel Adesanya doesn’t hold any ill will towards referee Marc Goddard for the decision to stop his fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 even if he wishes he had time to continue.
The fight ended just two minutes into its final round. Pereira struck Adesanya with an avalanche of punches that included a short knockdown before Goddard intervened to end the fight. Days later, Adesanya protested the stoppage while saying he was completely “lucid” during the exchange and he was just awaiting the opportunity to stage his comeback.
UFC Welterweight Matt Brown co-hosts The Fighter. The Writer, understands the argument for a good stoppage, although he’ll likely always side with the Adesanya when it comes down to how the fight should have been handled.
“I didn’t think it was a bad stoppage but I would have liked to see him let it go longer,” Brown said. While I don’t mind that he ended it that way, it was a good stoppage. However, I wish it [continue].. If I was the ref, I would have let it go longer.
“The fact is I don’t think Izzy was getting out of there. I don’t think Izzy thought he was getting out of there. I don’t think anybody thinks he was going to get out of there but in this sport, we have seen crazier things. This sport just never fails to blow your mind. I would have liked to see him given the chance and I would have given him the chance but I also don’t hate the ref for stopping it when he did. I was just saying that he was making shots, and Izzy made a very, very hard shot when he stopped it.
Adesanya argued on The MMA Hour , Brown, where he was still moving and trying to dodge blows even though Pereira’s punches were hitting.
Brown knows that there are much more stakes involved in this fight than usual, and he insists on the fact that Adesanya should be given every chance of survival until it became clear that he could not continue.
” The reason is that if I was the ref, I would have allowed them to have a bit more time. He still had his bearings around him,” Brown said. Brown explained that he tried to avoid shots even though he wasn’t successful. It is also a fight for a world championship. You’ve got to recognize this is the fifth round of a world title fight. The fighters are well-known. You know the guy’s a multiple time world champion. You’ve got to respect those kinds of things.
“90 percent of the time, I’m an advocate that they should have let it go longer, whether it’s me or someone else. That’s just the sport that we’re in. They should give you every chance that you have to get out of there.”
Benefactor of poor stops in the past. Brown is well aware of the dangers that referees pose to athletes and allows fights to go on until they are completely unconscious.
That said, Brown knows what he signed up for when he decided to become a professional fighter and it’s the same agreement everyone makes when they chose combat sports as a career.
“We don’t want to err on the side of caution,” Brown said. “We’d rather get flatlined and be carried out on a stretcher. That’s just the risk that we’re willing to take. I understand with commissions and there are actual health practitioners that judge this stuff and watch it and politicians. All these factors have an impact on it, but we as fighters are the ones that will be there on our shields or on stretchers.
” We’ll all die there. It’s not too late. That’s kind of where I’m at with that. I’m with Izzy, bring back Steve Mazzagatti. Let’s let these fights just go. I like that he said that personally.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/16/23461571/matt-brown-agrees-israel-adesanya-stoppage-ufc-281-rather-get-flatlined-be-carried-out-on-stretcher?rand=96749
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