Mixed martial arts promotion Fight Nights Global hosted another exciting night of fights on Friday night, March 30. However, the event is now making headlines for the actions of the third man inside the cage.
FNG 85 took place in Moscow, Russia on Friday night, featuring a series of exciting match ups. During the night, light heavyweights Vladimir Seliversto and Alexander Dankov went toe-to-toe in a battle for division dominance.
Vladimir Seliversto put on a stunning knockout performance over his opponent. However, the fight’s stoppage has since come under some controversy.
Seliversto dropped his opponent within the first round, following up with a blow that seemingly put the fighter out of the action. Seliversto then turned to the referee and stopped striking.
However, referee Marc Goddard did not call a stop to the contest. Rather, Seliversto was instructed to continue the fight.
The fighter pummeled his opponent with a series of devastating blows that would eventually bring about the stoppage. Goddard’s decision to continue the fight after the first knockout blow has since come under some controversy.
Goddard is of course not the first MMA referee to come under fire. Mario Yamasaki has received heated criticism for his duty at UFC Fight Night 125 during the match up between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira.
Cachoeira arguably suffered an unnecessary amount of damage during Shevchenko’s impressively dominant performance. Check out Goddard’s controversial stoppage within the video above.
