"He let things go too long” - Referee in charge of Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott let past mistakes affect his ability to stop the fight, says Jon Anik 

Jon Anik recently shared his thoughts, and potential concerns, about the referee in charge of Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott, which took place at UFC 297 on Jan. 20.

Magny, a promotional veteran, took on the surging Canadian, who had only entered a third round on one prior occasion in his MMA career. After dominating 'The Haitian Sensation' for the first two rounds, Malott found himself running out of energy rapidly as the final frame unfolded. Magny secured a takedown with less than two minutes left on the clock and finished the bout via TKO.

The American unloaded a barrage of ground-and-pound strikes to end the fight, and Anik believes that the stoppage was a late one. During a recent episode of The Anik & Florian Podcast, he said this:

"I certainly believe that our good friend, the Massachusetts-native Kevin MacDonald, let [Malott] take a few more punches than I would like. I have to say... Kevin MacDonald has been on the wrong end of some of the earliest, most premature stoppages I have ever seen."

He continued:

"I think the worst one I've ever seen was the first fight between Serhiy Sidey and Ramone Taveras on [Dana White's Contender Series]. Way too early there, and T.J Dillashaw vs. Henry Cejudo was also Kevin MacDonald... Now I think Kevin is gonna have a long leash because of some of the recent things that have happened to him in there. Thank goodness Neil Magny wasn't deprived of a win because the referee wanted to let things go too long."

Catch Jon Anik's comments below (10:25):

---

Jon Anik notes interesting fact about the judge who gave Sean Strickland the win at UFC 297

Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis faced off in the main event of UFC 297 this past weekend for the middleweight title. After a competitive five-round affair, the South African was awarded a split-decision victory, with one judge, Sal D'Amato, awarding the fight to 'Tarzan'.

After the event, Jon Anik pointed out that D'Amato has been involved in Strickland's previous three split-decision results. The UFC commentator wrote this on X:

"In Sean Strickland's last 3 split decisions (v. Hermansson, Cannonier, & du Plessis), Sal D'Amato has been the dissenting judge in all three! His Hermansson card was forgettable. Other two are certainly defensible. But judges are human. He was vilified for that Hermansson card and has been on the Strickland side in two close fights since. Food for thought."

Check out Jon Anik's post below: