In an unexpected move the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) have decided to change a controversial submission victory for Leandro Santos against Drew Dober to a no-contest.
In the second round at UFC Fight Night 62 this pat weekend the referee, Eduardo, brought an end to the bout for reasons that are hard to explain given that Dober hadn’t tapped to the guillotine choke Santos was applying and was in fact in no real danger at the time and was improving his position.
The blunder on the Brazilian official’s part was quickly hailed as one of the wost decisions of all time and brought a lot of pressure on CABMMA to do something about it.
The Commission initially declared that their hands were tied and would be unable to reverse the decision. However, they’ve surprisingly opted to then contradict themselves by releasing an official statement confirming that they will change the fight to a no-contest ruling.
The whole situation has been clumsily handled, but at least justice has been served in the end and perhaps the two will now get the opportunity to fight again to establish a rightful winner.
Read the full statement from CABMMA below.
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“The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) has done a relevant research and analysis of precedents involving government and independent regulatory bodies to decide on how to proceed in Leandro Silva-Andrew Dober´s case. There was no international jurisprudence found and record of overturned result based on an incorrect judgment call of the referee, when specifically not related to misinterpretation of the rule.
After receiving a detailed technical report from Mr. Eduardo Herdy, referee in charge of the bout mentioned in the case, which in the end clearly states that his stoppage was to preserve the fighter´s integrity, being that his highest responsibility when it comes to the duty of a referee, he has admitted his professional mistake and is willingly in favor to forgo his authority in the bout.
Due to the factors involved and after receiving Mr. Andrew Dober´s formal appeal, CABMMA has defined a fourth provision regarding the change of decision after contest or exhibition, which follows below.
“The Executive Committee may, on an exceptional basis, revert a decision to “no contest” if it determines that a good faith judgment call of a referee was mistaken and therefore considered a self-evident error. Such decision may be taken provided (i) an appeal is filed with the commission within 72 hours of the relevant bout, (ii) the appeal is accompanied by a video (or link thereto) of the bout showing the challenged judgment call, (iii) upon request by the Executive Committee, the relevant referee presents a written justification of his judgment call and (iv) after analysis of the relevant video and justification, the Executive Committee determines that the judgment call was in good faith but considered a self-evident error.”
In addition, based on the success of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission and its resource to help prevent similar cases by the usage of instant reply, CABMMA will study the possibilities of using this same resource in future events where promoters have the infrastructure to provide so. New protocols are, as of this moment, being analyzed with the purpose of identifying such palpable errors during the events. It is important to state that Mr. Larry Hazzard, Sr. (Commissioner) has shown CABMMA a new perspective of conducting events in Brazil, creating a safer and fairer environment for MMA.
Regarding Mr. Eduardo Herdy, CABMMA is thankful for his professionalism in recognizing this error, helping the entity evolve in its regulatory affairs in Brazil by seeking the development of higher standards and demonstrating his commitment as an official referee of the sport.
Consequently, after reviewing the case, the Executive Committee presided by Mr. Rafael Favetti (Chairman & CEO) and Mr. Cristiano Sampaio (COO), has decided to overturn the result of Leandro Silva vs. Andrew Dober bout and is officially determining it as a NO CONTEST.
Cristiano Sampaio – COO
CABMMA”
