Whether it’s our love for bipedalism or a stubborn holdout from boxing, the troubling notion that “if you’re still on your feet, you’re still in the fight” reared its ugly head once again this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 82 in Las Vegas.
It was the brilliant finish that came at the expense of Sean Spencer, who, despite getting an extra $50,000 bonus for his Fight of the Night effort against Mike Pyle, was dispatched in the waning moments of round three struggling to remain upright against the cage. The finish, which snapped a two-fight losing streak for Pyle, was not overtly violent. Despite the cacophony of knees and elbows finding their way to Spencer’s face, there was no blood spilling out on the canvas floor, and if you were to ask Spencer himself, he may find no issue in the stoppage. Nevertheless, it was excessive.
Ten years ago, there would’ve be no issue. In the era where we comforted ourselves with the “knowledge” that MMA is much safer than boxing and other combat sports due to the sheer breadth of techniques and the non-emphasis on pure striking, we could excuse fights like this as the exception rather than the norm. Now, though, in the age of CTE and former fighters struggling to pronounce elementary level vocabulary, we’re starting to get it.
Gone are the days when an early stoppage was the worst possible thing imaginable for a fighter to endure. Now, with each crushing shinbone across the temple and every winging right hand to the jaw, we realize that you can only have “your bell rung” so many times. Much like that punch-card to your favorite coffee shop, the human brain can only sustain so many collisions before you begin to fall apart both mentally and physically.
What was truly troubling about this past weekend’s bout between Pyle and Spencer was the fact that the “third man in the cage” was a seasoned veteran of officiating. Yves Lavigne, though not perfect by any means, has asserted himself over the last decade or more as one of the go-to guys. Along with “Big” John McCarthy and Herb Dean, Lavigne stands as one of the most trustworthy “men in black” we have in this sport. It’s under his care that fighters can place their trust; that if the worst were to happen, he would be there at a moment’s notice to protect you from any further damage.
In that sense, Lavigne seriously dropped the ball this weekend. It took a total of nine unanswered shots to Spencer’s head and a look from Pyle to Lavigne as if to say, “What more do you need to see?” before Lavigne eventually stepped in to call the fight at 4:27 of round three. It easily could have been stopped at 4:15, if not before, had it not been for Spencer’s dogged tenacity and sheer power of will.
Examples abound, but at the end of the day the issue is the same; the sport of mixed martial arts deals almost exclusively with men and women that are the literal definition of being “too tough for your own good”. While most of us would drop like a sack of potatoes at even one hard elbow from Pyle, Spencer managed to absorb more than a dozen in the final round alone. Through heart, will, and sheer stubbornness, Spencer refused to fall to a knee. Instead he covered up, bit on his mouthpiece and leaned against the fence until Lavigne had eventually seen enough.
The level of self-belief these fighters possess is insurmountable, and Spencer himself might have thought that he was just one punch away from changing everything. But that’s why we have referees in the first place; they’re there to protect fighters from themselves. It wasn’t Pyle’s fault, and nor was it Spencer’s. Lavigne came up short this past weekend and in doing so seriously put an athlete in danger. If we want the sport of MMA to continue to grow, there has to be a consistent level of officiating, especially when it comes to fighter safety.
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