Posted on 13 October 2009.
Virginia’s fight sanctioning body, Virginia Department of Professional Occupation and Regulation, was so horrendous at the October 3rd UWC event, that the promoter went so far as to publish a press release essentially saying, “It wasn’t me, dog.”
This statement promoted by the now infamous judge’s decision on the Chase Beebe/Mike Easton fight.
The UWC’s mission has always been to put on the highest level of professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) shows and help grow the sport by producing exciting, competitive fights featuring established veterans and rising stars. We rely on the state’s official sanctioning organization, in the case of Saturday night’s fight at the Patriot Center it was the Virginia Department of Professional Occupation and Regulation (VDPOR), to provide for the safety and integrity of the fighters and sport by adhering to MMA’s unified rules and regulations.
We want fans, media and observers to be aware that the UWC has absolutely no control over the selection of judges and the decisions rendered for each fight by them during the event; that responsibility rests with the sanctioning body. Our organization put together, what we believe was the UWC’s best fight card to date, and that our fans in attendance and watching around the world on UWC Pay-Per-View at http://www.uwcmma.com would agree. To be clear, the UWC and all associated parties held absolutely no ill will towards Chase Beebe in relation to pulling out of the originally-scheduled Bantamweight Championship Title fight he was under contract for several months ago and we were as anxious as our fans to see these two warriors collide inside the cage.
As many of you have communicated the night of and after the show to us, we too our passionate about the sport and demand that all contests be judged fairly for the sake of everyone involved in the sport. It is critical for us to do everything in our power to ensure that the bouts we promote are judged fairly and legitimately by the sanctioning body. As such, we are in communications with the VDPOR and hope to receive a statement from them in the immediate future regarding this situation.
You can read between the lines and hear UWC chief Marcello Foran is on a rolling boil that his promotion has been pulled into the mud because Virginia apparently doesn’t have one competent judge.
Now, with the Beebe/Easton fiasco still fresh in everyone’s browser history, Luke at the Bloody Elbow opens the floodgates again. This time its the timekeeper at UWC’s April event, and a timekeeper’s inability to read a stopwatch.
Fight 4 was a 125# fight between Jose Villarisco and Mikey Lovato. Lovato easily won the first two rounds with a dominant ground game that Villarisco, a world class Muay Thai fighter, had no answer for. Behind on the scorecard, Villarisco found an extra gear in the 3rd and started putting the leather in and around Lovato’s face. Mikey Lovato wanted no part of Villarisco’s superior stand-up game, and started playing The Flop. His stall tactics were so obvious, that the announce team actually compared it to Matt Makowski’s victory over Nick Serra “via buttscoot”.
With :47 left on the on-screen clock, referee Mario Yamasaki seemed to break the fighters to, as the announcers assumed, issue Lovato a warning for stalling. Then he looked at the time keeper, and announced the fight was over. Early word from ring side was that the fight was stopped because of inactivity. A not wholely unprecedented thing (see: Makowski vs Serra), but then as Villarisco celebrated what he thought was his first professional mma victory, it became clear that the fight was stopped by the timekeeper.
Its important to note that this ruling is out of the hands of Mario Yamasaki, who like all other officials at the event, was assigned by the state, and not by the UWC. Unlike soccer, the official time is kept cageside by the timekeeper, who’s only job is to look at a stop watch, and ring a bell at the appropriate times.
The entire fight can be seen here on Sherdog.com.
How long are promoters like Marcello Foran expected to deal with Gong Show officiating before Virginia is left off the mma map?
Paul Miles is a sports photographer who has shot ringside for Respect is Earned, Kings Promotions and Celebrity Boxing. This, obviously, qualifies him to have an opinion. Aside from editing MAMMA, he also maintains a portfolio site.
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