There’s been a lot of back and forth between fans over Roy Nelson’s controversial actions at the end of his fight with Bigfoot Silva at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night event. After dropping Silva to the canvas with a humongous overhand right, Nelson argued with the ref to stop the fight as he continued to pummel his downed opponent.
After referee Big John McCarthy finally stepped in and stopped things, Nelson didn’t let up. He threw a middle finger at the ref from his corner and then went back across the Octagon to kick McCarthy in the ass for making him beat on Silva for longer than Nelson felt was required. Some fans feel like Nelson’s actions were at the least forgivable considering he is close friends with Silva. But others, including UFC president Dana White, are horrified by what happened.
“You can’t apologize for that,” White said on the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “You don’t ever, ever put your f**king hands on a referee … or your feet, for any reason what so f**king ever. He needs to be buried. He went over there and put his foot on his ass to push him. Was flipping him off and yelling at him. You wanna flip a ref off … there’s never, ever a situation where you put your hands on a f**king referee. Ever. You can’t apologize for that.”
White clarified that he doesn’t plan on “burying” Nelson himself, saying that’s a job for CABMMA, the Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA. They’ve already declared that Nelson will face
“We’ll see how the Brazilian athletic commission handles that, but he needs to be buried,” he continued. “If the athletic commission doesn’t rain on him, it’s not good. You don’t ever put your hands on a referee, I don’t care about the circumstances, you don’t do it.”
“You’re a fighter, you go til the referee tells you to stop,” White finished. “John McCarthy is very qualified in what he does. He’s been here a lot longer than f**king Roy Nelson has been. And for Roy Nelson to go over and put his f**king hands on a referee. It just can’t happen. It can never happen.”
CABMMA seems to be taking the same attitude to the incident, stating “Even though CABMMA understands Roy Nelson’s ‘frustration’ in that situation due to his close relationship with his opponent, that does not justify his act and can open a serious and dangerous precedent in the sport. We, as the regulation body of MMA in Brazil and member of the Association of Boxing Commissions, will not tolerate such conduct.”
An understandable position, given the number of MMA events held in Brazil. If a serious penalty isn’t handed out to Nelson, it could signal that referees are fair game in the volatile country. According to CABMMA, the Superior Justice Court of Sport will handle Nelson’s disciplinary hearing, which could result in fines and / or suspensions. We’re betting it’ll be both, and aren’t expecting them to go light with the UFC heavyweight.
(Via MMA Junkie)