Referee Marc Goddard has defended his stoppage of Israel Adesanya 's defeat by Alex Pereira after some fans criticised the call.
Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight title in New York when he was stopped in the final round by former kickboxing rival Pereira. 'The Last Stylebender' was up on the scorecards and just minutes away from victory, but Goddard stepped in when Pereira landed a flurry of punches as he deemed that Adesanya wasn't intelligently defending himself.
Some fans have praised Goddard for preventing Adesanya from taking any unnecessary punishments whilst others believe the former champion should've been given more time to recover. Goddard, who is one of the most respected MMA referees ever, has now given his take on the stoppage.
What were your thoughts on the stoppage of the Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira fight? Let us know in the comments section below
"Thank you to all who understand the role in which we play, protection is paramount. Decisions are over the second they are made, the conscience lives forever. Honoured, blessed and thankful. On the biggest stage there is, of the fighters, for the fighters - they remain the Kings," he tweeted.
Adesanya thinks Goddard should have given him more time to recover and jokingly wishes that Steve Mazzagatti, a former MMA referee notorious for his late stoppages, was officiating the fight instead. "I don’t blame the referee. Marc did a good job, but you see it when I get up," Adesanya said on The MMA Hour. "I’m fine. I was lucid. I didn’t get rocked rocked. I got hit up against the fence and my thought was, ‘Escape, laterally, either left or right.’
"To the referee, after two big shots I wobble and I’m standing there looking like that, he’s going to be like, ‘Nah.’ He’s being safe. So when he jumped in I’m like, ‘I’m fine. Aw, f***.’ I was literally just disappointed. I was waiting for him to gas out so I can do my work. I was going to take him down and then beat him up again."
Goddard also indirectly replied to Adesanya's thoughts about the stoppage on Twitter as he wrote: "My job is to protect. Thank you Israel. Congratulations Alex. God bless." Pereira thinks Adesanya would have only taken more punishment had Goddard not stepped in despite the former champion insisting he still had his wits about him. "Adesanya was taking some pretty heavy hits and the referee is there to keep him safe, so I think the stoppage was correct," Pereira said.
