MMA stars vent their frustrations with UFC referee after he waved off Alex Pereira’s bout with Jiri Prochazka in the second round
- Fans are furious over the early stoppage in Alex Pereira’s fight with Jiri Prochazka
- The fight was stopped just four minutes and eight seconds into the second round
- How do you get the biggest fight for a needy AJ without major risk? The hook
UFC fans are furious with referee Marc Goddard after he intervened to wave off Alex Pereira’s fight with Jiri Prochazka on Saturday night.
Pereira and Prochazka went toe-to-toe in a highly anticipated fight Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
However, fans were left somewhat disappointed when the fight was stopped just four minutes and eight seconds into the second round.
They felt Goddard intervened too quickly – despite landing several hooks and a flurry of elbows to the head.
However, Prochazka had no objection to the referee’s interjection and even admitted to being ‘out’ when taking Pereira’s penalty.
UFC fans are furious with referee Marc Goddard (center) after he intervened to wave off Alex Pereira (right)’s fight with Jiri Prochazka (left) on Saturday night
The fight was stopped just four minutes and eight seconds into the second round
Pereira was delighted with both his performance and the result, having secured his second title victory in four octagonal fights
Supporters took to social media shortly after the fight to vent their frustrations, with Merab ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili calling the early stoppage ‘bulls***’.
Dvalishvili wrote to X: ‘BULLS**** EARLY STOP!!! MARC GODDARD DOES IT AGAIN!!! WE ARE WARRIORS, LET US FIGHT!!!’
American featherweight Lando Vannata added: “In a fight like that, just let us die right there. That interruption was crazy.’
Terrance McKinney was equally frustrated, saying Prochazka would be frustrated with the referee’s decision. He tweeted: “Luckily Alex won, but that was definitely an early stoppage.”
While one fan wrote: ‘That was way too early an interruption!!!’, another added: ‘Well damn. Great gesture from Pereira….BUT… That was an early stoppage. Bad decision Daan. Nice patience and positioning from Poatan.’
Meanwhile, Nicolas ‘Danish Dynamite’ Dalby agreed with the decision. He wrote: ‘I’d like to see two more seconds, but from the instant replay when I saw Jiri collapse, I think this was the right decision by Goddard!’
Nevertheless, Pereira was delighted with both his performance and the result, having secured his second title win in four octagonal fights.
