Judging and refereeing mistakes directly affect the outcome of an MMA fight. As such, a judge and referee must keep a keen eye on the happenings of the MMA fight. Recently, ex-middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa levied serious accusations against veteran MMA referee Jason Herzog.
Herzog often officiates the high-profile MMA bouts along with Herb Dean, Mark Goddard, and Dan Miragliotta. Recently, Herzog was the referee for Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xioanan and Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. In his recent appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Paulo Costa criticized Herzog, particularly for one of his fights Herzog officiated.
I don’t like the guy; he’s a ring referee [Jazon Herzog]…Small guy, white guy, he just took one point off me on the very first accidental eye poke when I fought Marvin, and that messed with that, you know? I’m not saying I lost because of that, but this gave me a sense of urgency that I hadn’t yet before…this guy [Jazon Herzog], he’s [the] worst.
Paulo Costa via JAXXON podcast
Costa lost the fight to Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision, with all scorecards reading 48-46. The Brazilian felt the eye poke was not blatant; it just grazed the eyebrow of his opponent and not even in the eye. Interestingly, the eye poke was not the only controversy of the fight.
Even before the fight, Costa appeared unwilling to make the middleweight limit. Therefore, the promotion changed the matchup to light heavyweight, mainly due to Vettori wanting to fight irrespective of the weight class.
Paulo Costa speaks on the fighting style of his opponents
Paulo Costa’s upcoming fight is against Sean Strickland, in which Costa promises fireworks to the fans. In a recent appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Costa stated Strickland won’t avoid confrontation, making it an exciting affair. Costa had hilariously asked Sneako, the streamer Strickland beat up sparring, for money to beat up the ex-middleweight champion at UFC 302.
Paulo Costa (via Sports Illustrated)Unlike Strickland, Robert Whittaker avoided confrontation at UFC 298, according to Costa. Therefore, he was unable to fight his best self. He stated he is a similar mold of a fighter like Justin Gaethje and hence found it difficult against Whittaker. Even though he came close to knocking out Whittaker in the first round, Costa lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Before Whittaker, Costa had fought Luke Rockhold, who, according to Costa, also did not avoid confrontation. As such, it was an exciting fight that earned the Fight of the Night bonus. Costa stated Rockhold punched and kicked hard but didn’t feel Rockhold’s BJJ as people touted to be.
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