The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 162: Maia vs. Askren

#2 Worst: Strange refereeing mars a pair of main card bouts

Ciryl Gane's fight with Don'tale Mayes could've been stopped earlier than it was

Okay, so as a disclaimer both the fight between Stevie Ray and Michael Johnson and the clash between Ciryl Gane and Don’tale Mayes were fun to watch, and I enjoyed both contests greatly. It’s also worth pointing out that both fights ended with the correct fighter getting his hand raised; Ray edged a majority decision while Gane managed to submit Mayes via heel hook with seconds remaining in the third round.

However, for me both fights could’ve been stopped more decisively and quite why the referees chose to let them continue, I’m not sure. Gane could’ve had a first round TKO to add to his ledger; he stunned Mayes with a barrage of punches before dropping him with a flying knee, and Mayes was clearly not defending himself as the round came to an end.

Somehow though, Herb Dean let the hurt ‘Kong’ continue – and unsurprisingly he took a beating en route to his submission loss.

Ray meanwhile took Johnson down in the third round and beat the hell out of him with a series of unanswered punches from back mount, and while ‘The Menace’ was never knocked out per se, the rules of the UFC state that a fighter must intelligently defend himself – and in my opinion Johnson wasn’t doing that. Leon Roberts however disagreed and let the fight go the distance.

It’s true that nobody wants to see fights stopped too early, but equally had Gane or Ray ended up losing their fights I feel like they’d have had a fair complaint about today’s officiating. More consistency is definitely needed in my view.