Dana White has labelled Bobby Green’s loss to Jalin Turner “one of the worst” referee stoppages “I’ve ever seen”.
Turner and Green clashed in a lightweight co-main event at UFC Austin on Saturday (2 December), with Turner putting his opponent on wobbly legs with a right cross before dropping his fellow American with a one-two.
Green, 37, appeared to be unconscious as he fell to the mat, but Turner, 28, was allowed to land 17 unanswered strikes while Green was prone on the canvas.
Referee Kerry Hatley has come under significant criticism in the days since, with UFC president White admitting on Saturday: “[The stoppage was] one of the worst I’ve ever seen [...] It’s unfortunate. Definitely a bad stoppage – very bad.
“The difference is we’ve had some refs say some dumb s*** in the past, like: ‘Oh, I allowed her to be a warrior tonight,’ and goofy s*** like that. [Hatley] knows that he made a mistake tonight, and he does not feel good about it.”
Green has since reacted on Instagram, saying in a video: “I was wondering why everyone was calling and checking up on me, then I saw the fight! I’m like, ‘Sheeeeeesh,’ but s*** happens, you know? You don’t get focused on that; you can’t go back, you can’t change it. You can’t take too many punches back, you know? It is what it is. You have to live with that s***. Onto the next one.”
Many UFC fighters criticised Hatley’s stoppage, with retired champion Daniel Cormier writing on Twitter, formerly X: “One of the absolute worst stoppages in mma history like wtf was going on. On your stomach taking punches and it still isn’t enough. Crazy!”
Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier tweeted, “Maaan horrible stoppage,” and Sodiq Yusuff wrote: “That[’s] insane man. I’ve never been actually mad at a ref before. Someone could die of s*** like that. WTF. FIRE THAT F***ING REF!!!!!!!”
Brandon Royval added, “That was f***ing ridiculous what was the ref doing,” while Chase Hooper tweeted: “F***ING BRUTAL. At no point was [Green] able to intelligently defend himself in that. Ref should’ve stopped it after one or two shots on the ground max…”
Turner, however, gave Hatley the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t know, bro. I don’t know what to call it,” Turner said after his win. “He just waited until Bobby was out. Like, Bobby’s tough. Bobby’s a really tough fighter, so when I was punching, he was defending; he was moving, he was still a bit coherent, and I was like, ‘Dang.’
“I was like, ‘Maybe this should be stopped, maybe not, and I’m not going to stop until you pull me off, because it’s him or me.’ And he would’ve gotten his bearings about him [eventually], he could’ve gotten back on top or something crazy. So, it is what it is.
“He was healthy, he was coherent, he was good after, we had good words, so I’m happy he was in good health – decent health.”
Elsewhere, Arman Tsarukyan – who won Saturday’s main event with a first-round knockout of Beneil Dariush – said, “I was super, super happy when [Green’s] head was bouncing on the canvas.” Tsarukyan’s comments followed his media-day confrontation with Green earlier in the week.
Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.
