Getty Dana White doesn't expect Jon Jones to fight for the heavyweight title.
UFC veteran Ed Herman won his third fight in a row on Saturday night but not without controversy. “Short Fuse” took on Mike Rodriguez in a light heavyweight scrap during UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill and Herman locked in a kimura halfway through the third round, winning by submission.
Earlier in the fight, Rodriguez dropped Herman with a vicious knee to the body. The knee had the potential to score Rodriguez a TKO victory, however referee Chris Tognoni stopped the action and called the shot a groin strike.
Watch the strike below:
Herman was able to recover from the strike and the fight resumed with the veteran catching Rodriguez in a kimura and tapping him out. See the finish below:
After nearly being finished multiple times, @EdHermanufc dug deep and locked up a third-round kimura to complete the comeback 🤯
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UFC President Dana White Compared Tognoni’s Refereeing to Steve Mazzagatti
GettyEd Herman punches Mike Rodriguez.
One person who is not happy with the officiating in the Herman/Rodriguez bout was UFC president Dana White. During a post-fight interview with ESPN, White said that the refereeing was “the most disgusting thing that I’ve ever seen.”
White said, “If the referee is that stupid that he didn’t see that wasn’t a low blow, you know Ed Herman’s job is to get in there and win a fight, and he did what he had to do.”
He tipped his hat to Herman’s toughness and ability to make a comeback, but blasted Tognoni, comparing him to Steve Mazzagatti, a referee who White has taken issue with many times in the past for making questionable calls.
During a press conference after the event, White said to the media via Bloody Elbow, “It’s hard not to bang on this guy. The worst I’ve ever seen. That’s some Mazzagatti-level s*** right there. That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.
“[Rodriguez] wins by knockout. Technical knockout, and loses the fight. Just one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Disgusting.”
White then pointed to the need of utilizing instant replay during matches. He said, “I was all over them tonight about replay. We have to have replay. There’s gotta be replay. All you gotta do is look at the f—ng replay that’s playing 6,000 times while Herman’s on the ground and say, ‘Oh sh-t, I made a mistake.’ You can’t see everything, they’re human.”
White confirmed that he would pay Rodriguez his win bonus.
Herman Addressed the Controversy During His Post-Fight Interview with Michael Bisping
Ed Herman addresses the RD 2 controversy. #UFCVegas10
After he got his hand raised inside the Octagon, Short Fuse spoke with UFC commentator Michael Bisping. Bisping asked the fighter about the strike.
Herman said, “I don’t know where I got hit but I know I was hurt and I went down. I don’t know if it was the groin or body but all I know is I went down. I’m not really sure, I’d have to watch the tape and see how bad it was. I was freaking tired, man. There’s no energy in here. It was really weird fighting like this (without fans).”
Short Fuse gave props to his opponent, saying “Mike is a hell of a tough guy, man. He was putting it on me and my experience pulled through. I probably should have pulled guard sooner, maybe I could have locked something up but he’s a big strong guy.”
With the victory, Herman improved his record to 26-14 with one no contest. As he was defeated, Rodriguez’s record fell to 11-5 with one no contest.
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