It is common knowledge for any fan of MMA to know that being a referee at any level of the sport is one of the hardest jobs there is.
However, some referees are just plain bad and that rule certainly extends to Kleber Lopes, who was an official during an amateur MMA bout between Jessian Lucas and Michael Douglas (not the actor) that took place this past weekend in Brazil.
Copa Thunder Fight de MMA Amador. Por que? pic.twitter.com/VFEydIQHj7
— Barrele la pierna (@Barrelelapierna) November 16, 2020
The amateur rules for this bout stated that neither fighter can hit the other in the head, but it didn’t take long for that rule to be broken and for the referee to do nothing about it.
In fact, the referee would be admonished and suspended by the CABMMA, which is the athletic commission in Brazil, as the commission posted the following on Instagram:
Anderson Ulysses, who is a member of the CABMMA issued the following statement on the matter through social media (via MMA Mania):
“At 11 seconds of the first round, Michael was knocked out by a high kick to the head and the referee made his first mistake, not interrupting the fight. He committed the second mistake by allowing the fight to continue with the athlete unconscious. We apologize to the athletes, teams, MMA fans and Thunder Fight for the mistakes committed due to lack of experience of the professionals. We inform that the referees that committed the mistakes were interns who were getting tested and had no experience as referees, but had undergone rule courses previously.”
Lopes, who again was the referee for the controversial encounter, will have to undergo more training before being allowed to officiate again.
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