LAS VEGAS – Referee Marc Goddard believes he handled Alex Pereira’s stoppage of Israel Adesanya perfectly fine.
Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) rallied to claim the middleweight title with a standing TKO of Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) in the fifth round at UFC 281, where he had Adesanya badly hurt against the cage.
Adesanya immediately protested the stoppage and has continued to since then, but Goddard stands by his call.
“I feel very good,” Goddard told MMA Junkie on the World MMA Awards red carpet. “Israel, I think he’s a great guy. I think he was a fantastic champion. I’m not just saying it because I’m here. I like the guy a lot. I like all the fighters. That’s my job, I’m down the line, and if I done that fight again, 11 times out of 10 I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m very comfortable with my actions, and the people who know me will know I’m my harshest critic.
“It’s a very fine line. We don’t get second takes, reverse angles, etc. People find it weird when we say we’re there to protect the fighters when they knock hell’s bells out of each other for 25 minutes. … At the end of the day, my job is to act instinctually and correctly to protect the guys. It was an amazing fight. Congratulations to Alex, all the respect in the world to Izzy. I’m happy with what I did.”
Adesanya was up 3-1 on all three judges’ scorecards before he was stopped. A big left hook by Pereira had Adesanya on wobbly legs in the final round, prompting him to fall back against the fence. Goddard called the stoppage at 2:01 of Round 5.
