Dana White Has No Issue With The Condit-MacDonald Stoppage At UFC 115

In a night that saw one of the biggest blown calls made by a referee in recent memory, Dana White had nothing to complain about in regard to Kevin Dornan’s decision to step in on Rory MacDonald’s behalf. Even with seconds left in the fight, White had no issue with the stoppage.

“I’m the first one to blast a referee or a judge for making bad calls,” White said. “In my opinion, referees aren’t looking at the time. They could give a s--t what time it is or how much time is left. They’re there to protect the fighters.”

MacDonald was likely up on the scorecards, having multiple takedowns in rounds 1 and 2. Although he inflicted little damage on the ground, his striking along with the takedowns all but assured him taking the first two rounds. Condit was undoubtedly well aware of this, and came off the stool a different fighter.

After briefly getting to the mount, Condit was able to stuff a desperation takedown from MacDonald and regain top position. His elbows finding a home, Condit was constantly changing position looking to throw bombs. MacDonald’s face looked like a war story, and he took one hell of a beating. With 7 seconds left in the third round, the ref pulled Condit off the kid.

“Rory’s a young guy,” White said. “He’s got a lot of fights ahead of him. He took a lot of damage in that last round. I didn’t have any problem with the stoppage. It’s unfortunate when a fight stops with seconds left, but you won’t hear me bitching about that one.”

Condit had this to say about the stoppage-

“In that third round, I just came out guns blazing and caught him, and I don’t think he ever really recovered from that. I was able to implement my top game and really do a lot of damage with elbows and standing-to-ground punches.”

I actually had no problem with the ref stepping in on this one. What Condit was doing near the end of that last round could almost be construed as child abuse. I know it was controversial, and some fight fans feel MacDonald was robbed a potential decision victory, but the concern of the referee should be first and foremost to protect the health of the fighters. Time left shouldn’t really be taken into consideration, and fighters shouldn’t have to work harder to finish someone late in the third than they would earlier in the fight. Letting someone take a beating later in the fight, when they’ve already taken damage throughout, and are exhausted, just seems silly. Good call.