However, not everything went off without a hitch according to UFC President Dana White, who was critical of how official Jason Herzog handled his duties for the bout between Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington.
“(Herzog) let them clinch for four minutes for three (expletive) rounds and they fought for a minute,” White said at the post-fight press conference (via Nolan King of MMA Junkie). “That was a problem, too. That drove me crazy. If you are not doing damage or advancing position, you split the fighters up and make them actually fight. And I like this guy. I don’t want to bum this guy out or whatever, but he’s running around the Octagon. Like, what (expletive) fight is he watching? He’s moving around like he’s trying to stay out of the way like there’s a (expletive) war going on or something. These guys are leaning up against the fence for four minutes. Are you (expletive) me right now? I literally almost got up and walked out of that fight. I was so frustrated. Anyways, I’ve (expletive) on enough referees in my day. That guy seems like a nice guy. I’m too old to (expletive) be doing this (expletive) any more and tearing these guys apart. He’s a nice guy and I don’t mean to whatever. You saw the fight. You know what I’m talking about.”
Holm walked away with a unanimous decision victory over Pennington at UFC 246 in what many viewed as a lackluster bout at best.
Another official that raised the ire of White was Mark Smith, as White believes that Smith allowed Nasrat Haqparast to take too much unnecessary punishment in a loss to Drew Dober.
“The Dober fight, he got hit with like 12 unanswered shots,” White said. “The reffing wasn’t 100 percent tonight. That’s a fact.”
Neither Herzog or Smith have been reprimanded by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for their efforts at UFC 246.
