Referee, Judging Errors From Weekend Events Draw Criticism from Brazilian Officials

Beginning the week debating controversial referee and judging outcomes is common practice for MMA fans.

What isn’t as common is having two situations as controversial as those that occurred in the main events of two different organizations, as was the case last weekend at Fury Fighting Championship 76 on Friday and UFC on ESPN 43 on Saturday.

At Fury FC 76, referee Frank Collazo failed to recognize that Gianni Di Chiara Vazquez had been rendered unconscious by a triangle choke from opponent Edgar Chairez. That led to Vazquez waking up and tapping out when Chairez transitioned to an armbar in a potentially dangerous sequence.

One day later, judge Joel Ojeda inexplicably submitted a 48-47 scorecard for Marlon Vera at UFC on ESPN 43 in a bout that was clearly won by Cory Sandhagen. It was a tally that drew criticism from throughout the MMA community.

Former Brazilian MMA Commission (CABMMA) judge Guilherme Bravo expressed indignation over both instances on his weekly program, “Momento Bravo.”

“How can a referee with one UFC participation in 2022 be chosen to judge a UFC main event?” Bravo said. “With the level MMA has reached, fighters, managers and promotions must pressure commissions to hire the best professionals. The case of (Fury FC 76) was even more serious. The lack of basic grappling knowledge of the referee could have caused the death of a fighter. In cases like that, commissions should request [mandatory education].”

Carlos Barreto, a former UFC and Pride Fighting Championships competitor who currently serves as a color commentator for UFC Fight Pass Brazil, also expressed his disappointment in Collazo and Ojeda.

“I have refereed more than 200 MMA and Vale Tudo fights in Brazil. For being in the ref's shoes so many times, my tendency is naturally to avoid heavy criticism, but concerning these two cases, I have to say that those guys should be suspended from the sport, being obliged to do some kind of [mandatory education],” Barreto said. “How could a judge be unable to recognize an unconscious fighter? This guy could literally have killed the fighter.

“The Ojeda [scorecard] giving three rounds to Vera against Sandhagen is something totally inexcusable,” he continued. “For the [well-being] of the sport and the respect of the professional fighters, those two have to be at least suspended by all MMA commissions. For the growth of the sport it is important to start having some kind of penalties for judges and referees in absurd cases like that. After all we are dealing with human lives and those shameful situations must be avoided.”