The former Cage Rage heavyweight champion Mostapha Al-Turk was obviously disappointed with UFC’s referee Dan Mirgliotta during his fight against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 99. After a replay of the final moments of the bout, the instant replay clearly shows an inadvertent eye poke made by Cro Cop. Al-Turk’s manager Ken Pavia was furious with the referee’s decision to let the fight go on instead of temporarily stopping the fight to allow 5 minute timeout. Pavia has decided to contest the decision and file a written appeal.
Snip from Al-Turk’s manager Ken Pavia:
“We are going to appeal that, we don’t think its right that it should be a TKO. The referee should have got onto the eye poke…Look at Henderson v Franklin at UFC 93 in Dublin. Franklin got a timeout when he got eye-poked…with the fight taking place in Germany we aren’t sure what the protocol is, but we will put our appeal in writing and see what we can do.”
Snip from UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs:
“It’s very simple. By the unified rules… first of all the referee didn’t see the foul. What you’re asking is can we go to instant replay. You’re saying now that the fight’s over, can you take a look at it? If the referee had seen the finger and stopped the fight immediately, he could have given a stop for five minutes to recover, and then if (Al-Turk) couldn’t have gone on, it would have been a no-contest…In any sport, a judgment call cannot be overturned..It’s one of those things that happens, but nobody saw it around the Octagon until the replay.”
