John McCarthy criticizes Vyacheslav Kiselev for controversial non-stoppage at UFC 267

Veteran mixed martial arts official John McCarthy criticized referee Vyacheslav Kiselev for his controversial non-stoppage at UFC 267.

In one of the most prolonged beatings we have ever seen inside the Octagon, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos emptied the clip against Benoit Saint Denis over the course of a brutal 25-minute battle between the two welterweights at UFC 267. There were numerous points where the referee could have stepped in and stopped the contest, but he refused to do so, which led the fight to go the full distance. It was an incredible show of heart and toughness by Saint Denis, but he also took unnecessary punishment and damage during this bout.

Speaking to Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith, one of the MMA’s most-respected officials in McCarthy explained how he felt while he was watching the fight play out.

“I was going nuts. I was standing up in front of my TV, screaming. Look, if he had just let the fight go on, it’s wrong but it’s understandable and it’s understandable based upon there’s pressure there, he’s trying to let the fight play out and he’s looking at it thinking he’s doing a good job of letting this guy continue on even though he doesn’t realize he’s ruining this guy’s career. The loss is not going to ruin his career, the beat down and the damage will,” Smith said (via MMAFighting.com).

“So that was one element and then the eye poke. The way he handled it was so horrendous and so wrong for the fighter, and the fighter that had been beat down. So you’re looking and you go, ‘Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me!’ Then you take a look at the knee, the knee did not hit the groin,” continued McCarthy. “Maybe the shin did, and okay that’s fine, but to take a point for it? No, the knee was placed properly and so you just looked at everything he was doing, he was lost, he was in over his head. Everyone thinks it’s easy. It’s not. It takes time to figure out how to get these things and do them right and be good at them so you just flow with how you’re doing it and at that moment, he wasn’t ready for that type of fight.”

Did you have the same reaction that John McCarthy did to the non-stoppage in the Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit Saint Denis fight at UFC 267?