GETTY Raheem Mostert #31 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Championship game at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California.
Controversy was hardly in short supply throughout UFC 264 Saturday night, and a prominent member of the San Francisco 49ers had a lot to say about the outcome of one fight in particular.
Raheem Mostert, expected to begin this season as the Niners’ starting running back, is an avid fight fan — a quick glance at his Twitter account and it becomes more than obvious. However, Mostert was not a fan of longtime UFC referee Herb Dean’s decision to call the bout between Sean O’Malley (14-1) and Kris Moutinho (9-5) with less than 30 seconds remaining in the third and final round.
Mostert, in a tweet shortly after Dean stopped the fight, bemoaned that the veteran referee did not allow Moutinho to finish out the action-packed contest.
“Herb Dean lost a little respect from me,” Mostert wrote online. “He had 30 seconds left!”
Social Media Beef Erupts After Dean Calls Fight Early
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Mostert was not the only UFC fan who had strong thoughts on Dean’s decision. But while average spectators took to the comment section to throw around words like “stupid” and “unbelievable” to describe Dean’s choice to call the fight, Mostert’s objections appeared more rooted in his own competitiveness and desire to see Moutinho, a peer in professional athletics, reach the proverbial finish line.
“Watching this fight I definitely like what I’m seeing with Moutinho!!” Mostert commented. “Dude’s a fighter!”
And the praise kept coming. “He’s taking some shots and he still stands!” the Niners’ running back continued on his Twitter account.
While Moutinho fought hard, he spent the better part of the bout getting pummeled by O’Malley, who was clearly the superior fighter. O’Malley bludgeoned Moutinho repeatedly, landing clean head shots and devastating kicks over and over again.
At one point, Moutinho appeared obviously confused about the location of his corner, staggering toward and empty area of the octagon before being guided to the correct space. By the time Dean called the fight, most of Moutinho’s face was drenched with blood.
Still, prominent names around the UFC agreed with Mostert’s take, including Ariel Helwani.
“Get outta here with that stoppage! Cmon Herb,” Helwani tweeted. “He took all those shots the entire fight. Chris earned the right to finish. That’s nonsense. Wasn’t out on his feet. Wack.”
Damon Martin, MMA news editor, also disagreed with the stoppage.
“That’s a bad stoppage,” Martin contended in an online post. “Obviously a phenomenal performance by Sean O’Malley, but that was a bad call by Herb Dean.”
Some Fans, Fighters Acknowledge One-Sided Nature of Fight
GettyRaheem Mostert #31 of the San Francisco 49ers.
While Mostert caped up for Moutinho and what he felt was the fighter’s right to see Saturday night’s episode of bloodsport to its official conclusion, many media members and UFC personalities acknowledged the one-sided nature of the contest.
“He’s a heavy bag (right now),” Phil Murphy, of ESPN, tweeted of Moutinho.
“Damn, Moutinho can take a punch,” former UFC contender Ben Askren commented. “But this fight isn’t close to competitive.”
The theme continued on.
“Sean O’Malley might not have too much power, but man he’s accurate,” Danny Segura, reporter with MMAJunkie, tweeted. “He’s finding that chin 24/7.”
Whether Dean should have called the fight when he did is a subjective matter of opinion, and Mostert made his clear. And what should Niners’ fans take their premier running back’s reaction? That there’s a fighter at heart in their backfield ready to brawl to the finish.
The NFL season can’t come soon enough.