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Tag: Jason Herzog

  • Allegation: Over 100 UFC Fights Flagged By FBI, Potential Audit Sought For Fights Refereed By Jason Herzog

    Allegation: Over 100 UFC Fights Flagged By FBI, Potential Audit Sought For Fights Refereed By Jason Herzog

    An already underwhelming UFC Vegas 110 card has come under additional fire following fight fixing allegations surrounding the main card fight between Isaac Dulgarian and Yadier Del Valle. And now, if an allegation is true, things might be getting even more drastic.

    MMA journalist Harry Mac posted several allegations to X (formerly Twitter). One of these alleges that the FBI informed the UFC of the Dulgarian vs. Del Valle fight being flagged and closed to bets by sportsbooks; however, the UFC allowed the fight to go on.

    Additionally, Mac claims that over 100 additional fights, including another two from UFC Vegas 110, were supposedly flagged by the FBI due to unusual betting patterns. Moreover, Mac claims that there is a possibility that fights refereed by Jason Herzog are being sought after by federal officials for an audit.

    MMA Journalist Alleges More Than 100 UFC Fights Flagged By FBI

    It should be noted that none of Mac’s claims have been verified by other sources. However, several sportsbooks, including Caesars, William Hill, and DraftKings all provided refunds to bettors following the line movement and potential violation seen for the Dulgarian vs. Del Valle fight.

    Reports noted that Dulgarian entered the fight as a -250 favorite, but the odds shifted so much so that he was just a -166 in a short time. Additionally, a lot of money had been placed on the Del Valle via first-round finish prop bet.

    Del Valle completely dominated the fight, easily taking Dulgarian down before scoring a first-round submission. Dulgarian’s performance was criticized after the fight by several members of the MMA community.

    These allegations come nearly three years to the day of the infamous Darrick Minner vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke that resulted in James Krause being blackballed from MMA. It should be noted that Dulgarian has had a previous association with Krause, having previously trained at Glory MMA. The UFC subsequently also tightened gambling rules in the immediate aftermath, forbidding fighters, coaches, managers, and any affiliated members from betting on any UFC fight.

    The news also comes as the mainstream sports world is bearing witness to the NBA and its own gambling scandal.

  • “Needs To Be Fired” – Fans Shame Referee Jason Herzog In Steven Nguyen’s UFC-record performance Against Mohammad Yahya At UFC Abu Dhabi

    “Needs To Be Fired” – Fans Shame Referee Jason Herzog In Steven Nguyen’s UFC-record performance Against Mohammad Yahya At UFC Abu Dhabi

    Steven Nguyen put on a UFC record performance in his win over Mohammad Yahya on the preliminary card of UFC Abu Dhabi; however, the spotlight has been unanimously, and quite negatively, placed on referee Jason Herzog for irresponsibility.

    Nguyen used his crisp striking to lead to a dominant performance, overwhelming Yaha from the get-go with sharp combinations. Nguyen, in fact, dropped Yahya with six knockdowns — a UFC record for one bout.

    Yahya showed surprising resilience early, briefly dropping Nguyen with a flurry early in the second round. Nguyen, however, quickly regained control and rocked Yahya again, nearly putting the fight away with ground-and-pound and submission attempts.

    By the end of the round, Yahya had a hematoma under one of his eyes, prompting the doctor to step in and stop the fight.

    The MMA community unanimously took aim at Herzog for allowing the fight to get to this point, putting Yahya in more danger than was necessary.

    MMA Community Blasts Referee Jason Herzog After Steven Nguyen Win Over Mohammad Yahya At UFC Abu Dhabi

    https://twitter.com/Kinggz_locks/status/1949152985780531230
    https://twitter.com/CKPicks23/status/1949149321493975418

    Nguyen, a 2023 alumnus of Dana White’s Contender Series, scores his first UFC win after dropping his debut against Jarno Errens last year.

    Yahya, the former lightweight champion of UAE Warriors, is now 0-3 since coming over from that promotion.

  • Watch Henry Cejudo Confront Referee Jason Herzog Over FaceTime For Handling Of UFC Seattle Eye Poke

    Watch Henry Cejudo Confront Referee Jason Herzog Over FaceTime For Handling Of UFC Seattle Eye Poke

    Henry Cejudo is seemingly still grappling with the sting of his recent, highly contentious defeat.

    Cejudo made his return to the Octagon last weekend, headlining UFC Seattle against Song Yadong. However, the fight took an unfortunate turn, ending in dispute when an accidental eye poke prematurely halted the bout.

    Late in the third round, “Triple C” was on the receiving end of an accidental eye poke, forcing him to take the allotted five-minute recovery time. Though the fight briefly resumed, the former two-division UFC champion acknowledged that his vision was impaired heading into the next round.

    Consequently, referee Jason Herzog had no choice but to wave off the contest, sending the bout to the judges’ scorecards, where Yadong was awarded a technical decision victory.

    Cejudo didn’t hold back on social media after the fight, voicing his frustration over the way it ended. He claimed to have suffered diplopia, soft tissue damage, and multiple serious injuries as a result of Yadong’s strike.

    And on Wednesday, “Triple C” shared a video on social media of himself calling referee Herzog to challenge his decision not to deduct points from “Kung Fu Kid” for the eye poke. He also criticized the veteran referee for not intervening a second time when Yadong persisted with extended fingers, despite being explicitly instructed to keep them tucked.

    “One, you didn’t take a point,” Cejudo said. “And then two, when I took the five-minute break and we ended up coming back to actually fight, like, I still wasn’t recovered, but that dude still came here [with outstretched fingers], and you didn’t do anything. Luckily, I couldn’t see – or at least I saw four arms – but you never warned him, or you never took away a point.”

    In his defense, Herzog refrained from justifying his decision to stop the fight. Instead, he acknowledged Cejudo’s criticism and even admitted that he should have deducted a point from Yadong for the eye poke.

    “I’m not trying to say that it’s right or wrong and I’ve heard you now and I completely agree,” Herzong said. “Especially afterwards when he came out with his fingers like this [pointing out], why didn’t you [I] then stop it and take a point immediately… I think that’s a very valid criticism and an adjustment that I probably should have made. I think that’s a fair point… I can’t say that you’re wrong and when I watched it again, I’m like ‘Yeah, I should have probably stopped it and taken a point.’”

    Hypothetically, if Herzog had deducted a point from Yadong, the fight’s outcome could have been entirely different. “Kung Fu Kid” won with one judge scoring it 30-27, while the other two had it 29-28.

    However, with a point docked, those 29-28 scores would have shifted to 28-28, resulting in a majority draw instead of a victory.

  • Classy Jared Cannonier Doesn’t Hold Anything Against Referee Jason Herzog For Controversial Imavov Stoppage: ‘He’s Human’

    Classy Jared Cannonier Doesn’t Hold Anything Against Referee Jason Herzog For Controversial Imavov Stoppage: ‘He’s Human’

    Jared Cannonier recently conveyed that he bears no animosity toward referee Jason Herzog for the controversial stoppage of his fight against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night Louisville.

    Cannonier suffered a fourth-round TKO loss to Imavov in June when Herzog stepped in to halt the fight as the former UFC middleweight title challenger attempted to defend himself against a relentless barrage of strikes from his opponent.

    Although “The Killa Gorilla” appeared shaken before the stoppage, it didn’t seem that he was on the brink of being finished, as evidenced by his visible frustration and immediate protest of the referee’s decision.

    Herzog, widely regarded as one of the most respected and experienced referees in MMA, faced intense scrutiny from the MMA community for what many deemed a premature stoppage. Even Cannonier, at the time, described the entire situation as “gut-wrenching.”

    Despite the controversy, “The Killa Gorilla,” who is set to make his return to the Octagon this Saturday to headline a Fight Night event against the undefeated Caio Borralho, insists that he holds no grudges against Herzog for the loss…

    Cannonier on Herzog’s Judgment: ‘We All Make Mistakes’

    During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Cannonier opened up about his stoppage loss to Imavov. The 40-year-old Texan emphasized that Herzog wasn’t at fault, noting that the referee was simply fulfilling his duty and, in fact, spared him from taking further damage from his opponent.

    “I’m not going to be salty like that. Herzog is a good referee,” Cannonier said. “I mean, he’s human; we all make mistakes or erroneous judgments, you know what I mean? To whatever degree we may perceive them to be, he was just doing his job in keeping me safe—or, you know what I’m saying, getting paid off to let the Frenchman win, I don’t know. But whatever the f**k, man. I didn’t go in there and knock out Imavov, so this is what I have to deal with.”

    Cannonier further expressed that he wants to ensure such mistakes don’t occur again.

    “I get the lessons from the unfortunate things that may have happened, like these stoppages and sh*t like that. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again. Hopefully, these refs will give me an opportunity—if they see me on my feet, don’t stop the fight. You won’t see me on my feet getting battered like a speed bag making that sound or something like that.”

    Cannonier’s loss was a tough setback, especially after his impressive back-to-back victories over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland. A win would have positioned him as a prime contender for a second shot at the championship, but now he finds himself pushed further down the ranks in the contender lineup.

  • Robert Whittaker Has Sympathy For Referees In MMA Despite Bad High-Profile Calls: ‘Nobody Talks About A Ref Doing A Good Job…’ (Exclusive)

    June was a big month for the UFC’s middleweight division with several top contenders in action as the upcoming title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya draws closer.

    Former champion Robert Whittaker could have announced himself as the number one contender had Khamzat Chimaev not withdrawn from their main event in Saudi Arabia.

    Whittaker ended up facing Ikram Aliskerov where he produced a dominant display to earn a first-round finish.

    Earlier in the month, there was controversy in the division after Nassourdine Imavov stopped Jared Cannonier in a call that many believe was made too soon.

    Referee Jason Herzog waved the fight off in the fourth round with fans believing that he stopped the fight too early despite some worrying signs from Cannonier.

    Robert Whittaker Does Not Envy The Thankless Role Of Being A MMA Referee

    In an exclusive interview with MMA News, Whittaker said that he feels some sympathy towards MMA officials for the thankless jobs that they do.

    “The Reaper” didn’t agree with the stoppage of that fight but he also didn’t want to be too negative about the call that Herzog made in this instance.

    He stated that he understands the frustration of being on the wrong end of an early stoppage and having faced Cannonier in the past, knows that there is no quit in him.

    However, Whittaker said that he does not envy the role of the referees, specifically referencing how they never get credit but will always get criticized when a mistake is made.

    “Mate, being a ref’s hard. It’s a hard gig and it’s easy to point the finger at a ref for being trigger happy or pulling a fight too late or pulling a fight too short but man, the reality is their job is so hard. So hard. Nobody talks about a ref doing a good job, they only get hammered when they make a mistake or when it’s not to the liking of the fans. It’s a hard gig and I don’t have an opinion on it.”

    Here are the some of the other topics Whittaker discussed in the exclusive interview that you can watch in the video above:

    • Being upset with the media for misrepresenting his injury issue heading into the Aliskerov fight
    • Reacting to his first KO finish in seven years
    • On refereeing and how he would change judging in MMA
    • Explaining his decision not to weigh in at UFC 305 as the backup fighter
    • Discussing Sean Strickland, Bo Nickal, and Conor McGregor
    • Predicting how a rematch goes against Dricus Du Plessis

    Read More: VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Reacts To Longtime Rival Alex Pereira’s Knockout Of Jiří Procházka At UFC 303