What’s the proper way for a referee to intervene when it’s time to stop a fight?
Some critics feel referee Blake Grice showed perfect timing and technique when he stopped the fight between Azamat Bekoev and Zach Reese at UFC 311 on Saturday night in the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Bekoev, a late replacement who stepped up in a major way with a first-round TKO victory over Reese, was damaging his opponent with hard ground-and-pound strikes.
Grice jumped in to stop the fight, but in the process, his body weight and positioning forced Reese’s head to the mat. MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells called it out in a post on X:
Wells wasn’t alone. Many fans in the MMA community shared the same sentiment.
While Wells and others were critical of Grice’s stoppage technique, Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter posted praise for the referee that came from officials at the California State Athletic Commission:
In case you missed the finish, here is a look at it, and you can see Grice’s action at the moment of the stoppage.
Being a combat sports referee—especially in MMA—is a very tough job. Some will think referees stopped fights too soon. Others will criticize them for allowing fighters to take too much damage.
There is a very thin line, and it is very tough to get it exactly right. Also, everyone has a different take on the concept.
Fighters like Dominick Cruz seemingly hate referee intervention and would prefer to be put to sleep with a strike than to have a fight stopped.
Grice’s situation was a tough one too, as his potential stumble might be in his hand placement as he physically got between Bekoev and Reese. It could be argued that all physical pressure and push should go toward the fighter who is delivering the damage and not the one who is being rescued.
Grice’s weight was moving downward, which caused him to fall flat on Reese, and his hand went to the latter’s neck, thereby forcing the back of the head to the mat.
Because Reese was already likely rocked, it didn’t take much pressure to bounce his head off the mat. Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s also easier to say when you’re not the one tasked with the job, but if anything, Grice should have pushed Bekoev off rather than blanketing Reese.
Hopefully, Reese and his team are fine with the stoppage and Grice’s actions, and the fighter can return to action as strong as ever.
Here is a look at all of the results from UFC 311.
- (c) Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano via first-round submission (D’arce Choke)
- (c) Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (48-47×2, 49-46) – (FOTN)
- (POTN) Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via third-round TKO
- (POTN) Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via first-round TKO
- Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27×2)
- Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via first-round KO
- Bogdan Guskarov def. Billy Elekana via second-round submission (guillotine)
- Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
- Muin Gafarov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27,2, 29-28)
- Tagir Ulabekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
