UFC referee's seemingly early stoppage call gets picked apart by fans

A main-card clash at UFC Vegas 72 was criticized for an early stoppage. Veteran referee Chris Tognoni came under heavy fire for excessive intervention, among other things.

Mexican prospect Fernando Padilla made his UFC debut against featherweight veteran Julian Erosa on Saturday night. Padilla evidently hurt Erosa before dropping him a minute and a half into the fight.

While Erosa quickly regained his footing, Padilla continued to land brutal shots to earn another knockdown. Tognoni, the third man inside the octagon, was already keeping a close watch and stepped in after the second knockdown even though 'Juicy J' had managed to get back on his feet again.

Erosa protested the stoppage, which resulted in his second consecutive first-round stoppage loss. Meanwhile, 26-year-old Fernando Padilla extended his winning streak to 3 on his debut at the biggest stage of MMA.

Watch the highlights below:

---

UFC fans and fighters divided on alleged 'early stoppage'

UFC referee Chris Tognoni is known for having made some bad calls inside the octagon, even drawing the ire of Dana White in the past. MMA Twitter did not fail to bring up Tognoni's history of erroneous calls after his most recent one at UFC Vegas 72.

Some believe that the veteran referee has a tendency to intervene too much in general. @McCpicks wrote:

"MMA ref definitely a tough job. But Tognoni intervenes too much. Talks to the fighters like they’re in elementary school. Constantly warning about fence grabs before they even happen. Definitely can argue that was an early stoppage"

Others noted that early stoppages like these obliterate the scope of come-from-behind victories. @bnddof wrote:

"Comebacks wont be ever seen again if they continue to stop fights like this"

While some fans refused to cut Tognoni any slack, others believed the stoppage was an extremely tough call and therefore, fair. Fans wrote:

"Erosa was a bobble head. It might’ve been an early stoppage but deep down we all know Erosa was gonna be out in a few seconds. It was an early stoppage but a just one. No need to complain really "

"I know a lot of people are going to hate that stoppage but Erosa looked really hurt and before Togoni jumped in Erosa was KO'd and knocked back into consciousness. Tough job but a good stoppage IMO"