Referee blasted for UFC Seattle outcome, Dana White addresses double champ rumor, Bryce Mitchell has a new Flat Earth Theory argument: MMA News Roundup

The main event of Saturday night's UFC Seattle saw a bizarre ending to the main event, one for which the referee in charge faced some backlash online. Elsewhere, Dana White commented on the rumor that the UFC was no longer allowing a fighter to hold two belts at the same time.

Here are today's top combat sports updates, presented by Sportskeeda MMA.

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Jason Herzog criticized for Herny Cejudo vs. Song Yadong result

The UFC Seattle main event came to an anti-climactic because of an accidental eye-poke by Song Yadong that affected Henry Cejudo's eyesight. The unintentional foul took place in the last minute of the third round.

Cejudo took the full five minutes to recover and even demanded a point deduction, but the latter was not carried through by referee Jason Herzog. At the end of Round 3, Cejudo told his corner that he couldn't see out of his left eye and wasn't able to follow his opponent's movements.

The ringside physician, who stepped inside the octagon to check on Cejudo, passed the verdict that the fight should be stopped. Herzog informed the fighters that he would start the fourth round and stop it immediately to opt for the technical decision.

According to the unified MMA rules, accidental fouls result in a technical decision if it is stopped after three completed rounds of a scheduled five-round bout. Yadong won the fight (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). If Cejudo had declared himself unable to continue during the five-minute time-off, the fight would've been ruled a no contest.

The internet was divided regarding Herzog's decision to take the fight to a technical decision. A majority of the fanbase thought that it was technically "cheating" to allow Yadong to win a decision after the eye-poke. Even more people were disappointed that no points were deducted for the accidental foul. Few thought that he had handled the situation perfectly.

Read the comments here.

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Ilia Topuria vacated voluntarily, UFC hasn't changed the rules

After Ilia Topuria vacated his featherweight belt to prepare for a move up to lightweight, it was rumored (and reported) that the UFC brass has taken an executive decision about a double championship.

A feat achieved by Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, and Amanda Nunes so far, being a simultaneous two-division UFC champion is one of the biggest accolades a fighter can earn in the promotion. Many assumed Topuria would join the elite club if and when he won the title in the 155-pound division, but that is no longer a possibility.

However, the decision to relinquish the 145-pound belt was solely Topuria's, Dana White confirmed during the UFC Seattle press conference on Saturday night. Answering the question of a journalist who asked if Topuria was made to vacate the belt, White said:

"'No, he [Ilia Topuria] did that. He said, 'I've done everything I can do here, I'm ready to move up' and he vacated it. He said, 'I shouldn't be holding up anybody's opportunities'... I respect when guys do that."

As for a UFC double championship, White said he has no problem if a fighter can defend both belts regularly.

Watch Dana White's comments below (2:45):

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Bryce Mitchell finds a new way to defend Flat Earth Theory

Bryce Mitchell believes the earth is flat and often comes up with new explanations to prove his claim. In a recent video uploaded on his social media, 'Thug Nasty' claimed that geometry can be used to prove the theory. He showed the audience a picture of a round earth with a tiny image representing a helicopter hovering above.

"When the helicopter ascends above the earth's surface, it now has a larger flight path around the earth. When the earth does one full rotation, the helicopter actually has to cover more distance to get back to the same spot... If you don't understand geometry - spheres and circles - that's going to go right above your head."

Mitchell added:

"What I said makes perfect sense. I'm a lot smarter than a lot of y'all think. Some of y'all can't even keep up with me, that's the sad part. This is basic geometry... There is no proof that the earth rotates."

The reason why a helicopter would reach a destination at the same time, regardless of how much the earth has rotated while it was in the air, is because the planet's atmosphere rotates with it. The earth's spin has no significant impact on the flight time as they move with the same rotational speed. The same was explained to Mitchell by Sean Strickland in a video.

Listen to Bryce Mitchell's claim below: