Referee Marc Goddard has defended his stoppage of Israel Adesanya 's defeat by Alex Pereira after some fans criticised the call.
Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight title in New York when he was stopped in the final round by former kickboxing rival Pereira. 'The Last Stylebender' was up on the scorecards and just minutes away from victory, but Goddard stepped in when Pereira landed a flurry of punches as he deemed that Adesanya wasn't intelligently defending himself.
Some fans have praised Goddard for preventing Adesanya from taking any unnecessary punishments whilst others believe the former champion should've been given more time to recover. Goddard, who is one of the most respected MMA referees ever, has now given his take on the stoppage.
