Veteran referee John McCarthy shares his take on Saturday’s ‘Holland vs. Daukaus’ no-contest ruling at UFC Vegas 38

Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy shared his take on Saturday’s ‘Holland vs. Daukaus’ controversial no-contest ruling at UFC Vegas 38.

Holland and Daukaus clashed heads in the first round in their middleweight bout at UFC Vegas 38, which led to Holland being knocked down to the floor. However, he immediately woke back up, and referee Dan Miragliotta did not stop the fight. A minute later, Daukaus choked Holland out with a rear-naked choke. It appeared as though Daukaus would get the win, but after using instant replay, the referee determined that the clash of heads was what led to the finish, and the referee ultimately decided to rule the bout a No Contest.

Speaking on the “Weighing In” podcast, veteran referee Big John McCarthy shared his thoughts on the stoppage. As far as McCarthy goes, the referee should have stopped the fight as soon as the clash of heads happened, as that’s what led to the ultimate stoppage.

“This is where all MMA referees make mistakes. This is not, ‘Oh, he’s fighting, let it go.’ You don’t do that, because if you see the head clash, many times you’ll see a head clash and neither guy responds to it all. So instead of stopping the action, if there’s no cut or damage, you’ll come close to them and say, ‘Watch your head inside’ or something to that effect because you can see it did not affect either fighter,” McCarthy said. “But if you have anything that shows there was an effect and a guy gets knocked down, if you say that I saw that was a clash of heads, and you see that a guy got knocked down, then then it’s time to go ‘Stop! Time!’ No matter if he comes back out of it, I’m going to get him up, I’m going to take him to the corner and let him clear out the cobwebs if there is that there. I’ll let the doctor look at him and see if the doctor will put him back in the fight. I did it with Seth Petruzelli vs. Mo Lawal (at Bellator 96). They hit (heads), Mo Lawal went after him to finish him and he thinks I stopped the fight, he’s all excited. I go, ‘You clashed heads, that’s what hurt him.’ So you’ve got to take that time. The thing is, the referee doesn’t want to interfere with the action in the fight. You have to interfere with the action in the fight if you see that it visibly caused damage to one or both fighters. You’ve got to give them time.”

In the end, McCarthy believes a No Contest is the right decision by the referee.

“That was the right call for that occurred in this fight. Kevin Holland did not deserve to lose this fight based upon being hurt by a clash of heads. That’s not within the legality of the sport, and so he shouldn’t lose from the injury that he suffered and the damage he suffered which put him in the situation with the choke where he tapped,” McCarthy said. “In the end, the right thing was done, and that’s good for the sport of MMA.”

Do you agree with John McCarthy about the no-contest ruling at UFC Vegas 38?