Anyone see the Ulitimate Fight Night Live last night? Some very controversial calls from Steve Mazzagatti in the Karo Parisyan vs Thiago Alves and Houston Alexander vs James Irvin fights.

Judge for yourself:

http://www.mmascraps.com/

I think he was right in both cases, but........

Maybe another second or two to give the defenders a chance to show that they are defending or not. Very tough call.

Thoughts?

Alexander was done. No question. Caught cold. If Mazzagati hadnt stepped in, he just would have been sent to the ER. His arms were out to his sides, and whilst the fists were in the air, he was not able to defend himself.

Great superman punch, looked to have landed right off the tip of the chin- reminds me of Arlovski vs Buentello.

The reffs always get a tough time of it. Its a mark of just how good Big John is that he is actively appreciated by fans. Herb Dean has made some bad calls in his time, but Mazagatti was spot on this week.

Alexander was definitely out, no question and he can deny it but that is the fact. Parisyan as well went limp and dropped though he recovered fast however not enough to really defend himself. His arms may have covered his head but by no means was that defending himself but rather that is how his body turned when being hit. These are know as flash knockouts where the person is not even aware they went out and it is only for a fraction of a second. The ref stepped in and it is possible that Parisyan may have been better off then Alexander to continue however you cannot leave that to chance and the ref made the right call.

Being a ref in a combat sport is a tough job. There is a fine line between many calls that if they let it go the person takes a real bad beating so they side on caution. I would rather side on caution then chance.

I don't know I looked at the Parisyan fight a couple times and I think that one was called too early. I go by this rule if the winner is says "I think the ref did a good job." during the interview it usually means the ref called the fight too early. I've seen Mazzigoti take longer to call a fight and he's a really good ref. Look at the Florian fight and how long it took the ref to call that one. Yes there wasn't a knock out but Lozoune couldn't do anything but lay there and get beat and the fight went on for a full minute or longer before the fight was called.

The Lozone fight was a good call. The Alexander fight was a good call as well. Unfortunately the Parisiyan fight could have gone a little longer. Just my 02.

So...would a standing 8 count be good for the sport??

Tough because of tap outs, but I would love to see it!

No standing 8 count IMO. It contradicts the many claims that MMA is safer than Boxing and most other contact sports. If a fighter is damaged enough to need a break by way of intervention ..... then he is defeated. Life is precious.

EDIT: BTW.. I think Mazzagatti was pretty spot on. Alexander clearly out, Karo was in trouble, recovering from a flash knockout and recovering while someone like Thiago Alves is whooping you a good one are two different animals.

Moustacheagatti is a seasoned ref and has made plenty of good calls on many different fight cards.

The refs only have a few seconds,if that, to determine what to do. Very hard job imo and someone will always whine. Their job is to keep the fighters safe,bottom line.

I would offer them some cheese and tell them to get back to training.

No standing eight. No way!