5 of the most outrageous refereeing errors in UFC history

#2: Vyacheslav Kiselev – Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 267)

Referee Vyacheslev Kiselev was removed from UFC 267 after a terrible performance in the fight between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit St. Denis

The most recent entry on this list took place this past weekend at UFC 267. In a similar vein to some of the UFC’s other bad refereeing errors, it involved a largely inexperienced official. In this case, it was Russia’s Vyacheslav Kiselev.

Kiselev was placed in charge of the welterweight bout between UFC veteran Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and octagon debutant Benoit Saint Denis. After a relatively close first round, it quickly became clear that the newcomer was out of his depth.

‘Capoeira’ began to open up on Saint Denis with a myriad of strikes. At one point, the newcomer could do nothing else but cover up. Somehow though, Kiselev decided to let the fight continue. Incredibly, the Frenchman survived the round.

Worse was still to come. Early in the third round, an errant eye poke landed for dos Santos. While Kiselev did call time, he ignored Saint Denis’ pleas that he couldn’t see and didn’t even call a doctor into the octagon.

Zaleski dos Santos continued his onslaught from there. Bizarrely, he even lost a point when Kiselev decided to penalize him for an accidental low blow. Somehow, the fight went the distance, essentially horrifying everyone watching and leaving them fearing for Saint Denis’ health.

Suffice to say, the UFC were not impressed with the referee’s performance and subsequently removed him from officiating duties for the rest of the card. After such an outrageous error, it seems unlikely we’ll see him in the UFC again.

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#1. Steve Mazzagatti – Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill (TUF 10 Finale)

Jon Jones lost his fight to Matt Hamill via disqualification after a gaffe from referee Steve Mazzagatti

Arguably the greatest refereeing gaffe in UFC history remains infamous over a decade on, largely because it caused Jon Jones to suffer his first and, to date, only loss in MMA.

Jones was faced with the toughest test of his UFC career to that point in the form of Matt Hamill, a highly rated amateur wrestler who’d developed a dangerous boxing and clinch game, too. However, showing off the skills that would eventually lead him to the UFC light heavyweight title, ‘Bones’ showed no respect for Hamill’s wrestling. He threw him to the ground like a ragdoll early in the first round.

Jones quickly advanced into full mount and with Hamill clearly stuck on his back, he began to open up with a series of brutal punches and elbows that cut ‘The Hammer’ wide open. The fight was clearly over, but referee Steve Mazzagatti allowed Jones to continue abusing his opponent, until he threw what was apparently an illegal downward elbow.

Mazzagatti finally stepped in, taking a point from Jones for the infraction. However, it was immediately clear that Hamill was badly hurt. Seemingly ignoring the fact that Hamill was deaf, Mazzagatti verbally asked him whether he could continue. Unsurprisingly, Hamill didn’t answer and so Mazzagatti waved the fight off, seemingly in favor of Jones.

Incredibly, though, when the official result was announced, it transpired that Mazzagatti had actually disqualified ‘Bones’. He'd felt the illegal elbows, not the brutal shots that preceded them, had caused Hamill to be unable to continue.

To say this was ridiculous would be an understatement. Firstly, Mazzagatti should’ve stopped the fight when it was clear that Hamill could not defend himself. Secondly, why would he verbally ask a deaf fighter if he could continue?

Essentially, this fight should’ve gone down as a TKO win for Jones. The fact that it stands on his record as a disqualification loss says more about this outrageous refereeing error than it does anything else.