Referee Chris Tognoni is being called out for his work on Saturday.
In the most controversial fight on the evening, Ed Herman beat Mike Rodriguez via submission; however, Rodriguez should’ve won the fight in the second round as the light heavyweight nailed a clean shot that knocked Herman out cold.
The problem is that the referee misidentified it a low blow and gave Herman time to recover before restarting the bout, which ultimately benefited the veteran as he came back strong and locked in a kimura to clinch the win.
During the UFC Vegas 10 press conference, White had no problem calling out the Chris Tognoni’s work during the match-up and said the blunder was one of the worst he’s ever seen:
“It’s hard not to bang on this guy,” White told MMA Junkie, at the UFC on ESPN+ 35 post-fight news conference. “The worst I’ve ever seen. He’s a (expletive) Mazzagatti level. That’s some (Steve) Mazzagatti-level (expletive) right there. That was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. That kid wins by knockout, technical knockout and loses the fight. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”
Immediately after the finish, Rodriguez’s team confirmed that they will appeal the match-up, though Rodriguez himself told MMA Junkie that he didn’t blame the referee or Ed Herman for the situation:
“It’s a lot to take in,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve got no ill will towards (Tognoni). It was a simple mistake, and Ed just capitalized on the mistake. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a (expletive) situation. The only thing I really, like, blame Ed for, if anything, is when he got the submission, how he put his feet in the fence. Other than that, it is what it is. There’s nothing we can really do about it.”
Thus far, referee Chris Tognoni has remained silent since the light heavyweight fight. Herman spoke after the fight and didn’t exactly know where he got hit, but knew he was hurt and went down. We’ll keep you updated should more news comes from this story.