Dana White speaks out on Fury FC officiating fiasco: ‘You shouldn’t be a ref if that happens, in my opinion.’

Dana White has had his fair share of opinions on bad reffing jobs in combat sports. From Mario Yamasaki to Steve Mazzagatti, White pulls no punches when he sees an official potentially dictate the outcome of a fight.

The UFC had an event in San Antonio, Texas, Saturday night, and the night before, Fury FC hosted an event on UFC Fight Pass, which also took place in Texas. One of the fights on the card saw a flyweight bout that ended in immense controversy as Edgar Cháirez took on Gianni Vazquez.

The fight was razor close as it was heading toward the judges’ scorecards with under four minutes left in the fourth round. With Vazquez on top, Cháirez caught him in a tight triangle choke. At the 3:34 mark is when it appears that Vasquez goes unconscious.

Unfortunately for referee Frank Collazo, his lack of awareness was on full display as he allowed Cháirez to continue moving his hips, eventually turning the triangle choke into a gruesome armbar submission. After the fight, Vazquez revealed that he has dislocated ligaments and a potential fracture that will likely require further examination.

The clip made the rounds across social media and within the MMA community, as it was eventually brought up to White at his post-fight scrum Saturday night. When thinking of notoriously late or bad stoppages, the first that came to White’s mind was Jon Fitch vs. Josh Burkman, where Mazzagatti failed to intervene when deemed appropriate.

Scary scenes at Fury FC 😞 #MMA pic.twitter.com/Rae4cIFRmW

— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) March 25, 2023

Dana White says that Frank Collazo shouldn’t have let a situation like what happened Friday happen under any circumstances. To make matters even more ironic, he was a judge at the UFC event the following night, undermost to White.

“That’s the kind of stuff that I really don’t like,” White said. “If a guy gets choked unconscious and you don’t know he’s choked unconscious…everybody has a bad night. Everybody makes mistakes, but a guy gets choked unconscious, and then they pull him into an armbar…it doesn’t get any worse than that…you shouldn’t be a ref if that happens, in my opinion.”

Quotes transcribed via MMA News.

Should the Texas State Athletic Commission suspend Frank Collazo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, Penn Nation!