DQ ruling of Silva-Prader upheld by UFC’s Vice President Marc Ratner – UFC news update
The Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater ended with a controversial disqualification notice to Erick, which made the former appeal for a review.
Vice president of regulatory affairs of the UFC, Marc Ratner, has now upheld the decision saying that the referee’s decision was right and cannot be overturned.
Prater was announced winner after Yamasaki disqualified Silva’s finishing move, saying that since they landed on Peter’s back head, they were illegal.
However, the decision was met by immense public rage which made the UFC clarify its stance by releasing a statement for the 142nd UFC bout saying that the referee had warned Erick several times during the fight and so the decision cannot be reviewed. In
other words, if the referee had not informed him of the foul act, Erick would have had the choice of going for a review. Even then, the vice president took up the charge of making a formal review of the fight.
Although Ratner has announced that the decision was fair and square, many former fighters and fans are still of the view that it was not. However, considering the fact that the referee must be given due respect, it is understandable if the organisation does
not want to reverse the decision. Many former wrestlers and analysts are of the view that indeed a referee’s decision should be respected, but should be instant review systems or something of the sort to make sure such incidents do not happen again.
Ratner said, “Based on the referee's verbal warnings and his determination that the blows were intentional and a disqualifying foul, this is not the type of decision that can be reviewed. Therefore the decision stands.”
Furthermore, on using instant review systems, Ratner said, “While instant replay would not have reversed the call in the Silva-Prater bout. We believe that it could be valuable to referees and the sport in the future.”
Having such decision in the wrestling and boxing world is common. The story of Silva is exactly the same as of Amir Khan, the boxer, who recently lost both his titles to Lamont for his illegal blows in the ring. He too wanted to have the decision reversed,
but it did not happen. And so, Silva will also be going home empty handed tonight.
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